Fight to Win
by LemonStar
Summary: ..Daryl/Beth.. AU - no zombies. He saved her that early morning in the doughnut shop and didn't say anything to her afterwards. He went back to his doughnut and coffee and didn't even look at her again. But Beth looked at the older man with the too-long hair and frown on his face and couldn't look away.
1. Long John

**I have a slight love affair with donuts (they're my fifth food group) and I had this image of Daryl Dixon going into a doughnut shop and from there, another AU story took root and I have been developing an outline. This is just the prologue so it's a little short but the other chapters will be longer.**

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 **Chapter One** **.** Long John.

Daryl Dixon liked going to the doughnut shop when he got off his shift at the warehouse. His shift ended at four in the morning and that's when the shop down the street was just opening up for the day. He was usually the only one there except for the cook in the back, downing cups of coffee to wake himself up while making dozens of fresh donuts, and the waitress in her pink uniform with tired bags under her eyes but she always did her best to smile at him when she came towards him.

"Good morning," she said tiredly. "Coffee?" She asked, the question finishing with a yawn.

He wondered what time she went to bed and what time she woke up to get to work.

He nodded his head and turned over the white porcelain mug with the chipped handle at the corner of his paper place-mat and she filled it from the steaming pot she was holding. She then set the pot down and pulled her order pad from the front of her apron and she patted her pockets as she did every morning. Without a word, he sipped on his black coffee and pointed to the pencil she had shoved in her hair.

"Thanks," she laughed softly as she did every other morning they did this. "Do you know what you want?" She then asked.

"One of those chocolate long johns," Daryl answered like he did every morning and every morning, she wrote it down on the order pad as if it was something different every day. He wondered how big of orders they got here where she actually had to write them down to remember them.

"You got it," she said and gave him another tired smile before turning and heading towards the cases behind the counter and a moment later, came back with his doughnut on a plate and set it in front of him. She then headed out back and he knew that she was taking her first smoke break of her shift.

He sat there, sipping his coffee, eating his doughnut and looking down at the ads from local businesses being advertised on the place-mat. Painting and plumbing and carpet steaming services. A coupon for a dog's free nail trim at the grooming place in town. A family in need of a babysitter during the day. A woman offering piano lessons. His eyes floated over all of them, none catching his attention or his needs, though he really didn't have that many needs. He had a small place of his own without Merle there to trash it. He had a steady job that paid him enough. He had food in his stomach and a bed to sleep in every night. He didn't need more than that.

The door opened then, bringing in a gust of the cold dawn air along with a small woman with blonde hair, pulled up in a ponytail but most of it falling out. Despite the weather outside, she was wearing a dress and cowboy boots and he could see her shivering as she went to the counter. Her arms were crossed over herself, hugging herself as she rubbed her bare arms up and down with her hands. He heard her sniffle and he wondered if she was crying or if she had a runny nose from being stupid enough to be out there without a coat.

Daryl sipped on his coffee as he watched the cook come out from the kitchen, his spoon still in hand. "Can I help you with something, miss?" He asked.

"I was wondering if I could use your phone. My ride… I don't have a ride and I need to call someone," she said and it sounded strong but Daryl had sharper ears than most and he could hear the watery tone to it. Girl had definitely been crying.

He recognized the tone well enough. He had heard it enough in his life and though he hadn't heard it in years, he still could remember the instant he heard it again as if it had just been last night since the last time. His old man would have just slapped the hell out of his mom and her face would be bloody and bruising and the phone would ring and she would take a deep breath and one last sniffle before answering it with a _hello_ as if nothing had happened and the sun was shining particularly bright upon the Dixon house that day.

Daryl took a bite of the doughnut and couldn't stop from looking at the girl. She was mostly turned away from him so he couldn't get a good look at her and he wondered why he wanted to. Whatever was going on with her, it wasn't any of his business. He was just here to eat his doughnut and then go home and sleep for a while.

The waitress came in from her smoke break then and paused for a moment, looking at the girl standing at the counter, the shop's phone in her hand, pressed to her ear, and her whole body shivering more, as if responding to the wind picking up outside, howling against the diner windows.

"Hi, I was calling for a cab," she spoke once someone finally picked up on the other end.

The waitress went around to the other side of the counter as the girl spoke with the cab company and she poured a steaming cup of coffee, putting it down in front of her.

"Theodore's Doughnut Shop," she said. "Yes, I'll be here. Thank you." The girl ended the call and put the receiver back in the cradle. She then looked to the waitress and the cook. "Thank you so much," she said. "And I'm sorry for just bursting in here."

"No need to be sorry. We're open. You're not bursting anywhere," the cook said and then pushed the cup of coffee closer to her. "On the house. I'm Theodore but you can call me T-Dog. I own the place. And this is Rosita," he said and the waitress smiled at her.

"I'm Beth," the girl said, wiping at her cheeks. "And thank you again."

T-Dog had just opened his mouth to probably tell her that she didn't have to thank them for anything but before any of the words could leave his mouth, the door was ripped open and a guy stormed in. Daryl looked at him and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on edge. He didn't know this guy and yet, he did. Merle had sold enough shit to guys like this. Their dads were lawyers and doctors and they wore polo shirts with popped collars and they thought they could do anything in this world with no consequences and could walk over anyone to do it. Daryl had always hated guys like this and seeing this guy walk in here, clearly pissed off and heading right for the girl named Beth, it made Daryl put his doughnut down and watch the scene closely – even as he reminded himself that none of this was his damn business.

"Beth, let's go," the guy said in a tone as hard as rock.

"No," Beth said firmly, turning herself away from the counter and towards the other guy that had joined all of this, giving Daryl a better look at her.

She was young but she was definitely a woman. She didn't have much of a chest that he could see – not that he was looking for one – but she had the slightest shape of hips and he didn't understand how someone so little could have long legs like she did. Her skin was pale and her eyes were huge and Daryl wasn't usually the one to ever notice the opposite sex but for some reason, he was looking at her and definitely taking note of her.

"Beth. Let's. Go." The guy's voice was even harder now, firm as if he was giving a command to a stubborn dog, and he reached out, grabbing her arm.

Daryl took one look at Beth wincing at the grip and before he realized it, he was getting to his feet. He didn't know what the hell he was doing and he knew that if Merle was there, he would be watching this scene like an entertainment hour and telling Daryl to sit his ass down. And Daryl told himself that this was none of his business. He had just gotten off of work, he was eating his doughnut and then he was going home. He didn't have the time or energy to deal with anything else; especially something like this.

"No, Zach," Beth said as she tried to wiggle her arm free. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

Daryl glanced to T-Dog to see what the stocky cook would do and he could see his fingers tightening around the handle of his spoon as if he was about to slug the guy with it and Rosita was pulling the phone closer to her, ready to pick the receiver up and make the call.

"Yes, you are," Zach said and Daryl could see his fingers digging into Beth's pale skin.

"She said she isn't going with you," T-Dog said, coming around the counter. "And I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"No offense," Zach turned his eyes on T-Dog and his grip never lessened from Beth's arm. Daryl could see her still struggling to get away but the guy was too strong and Daryl could see the redness forming on her arm from his hold. "But this is no one else's business except mine and my girlfriend's."

Daryl told himself that for once, an asshole like this was right. It wasn't any of their business. Especially his. Just go back to your booth and finish your doughnut, Daryl, he told himself even as he continued to stand there, his eyes watching every move being made.

And then, Beth's head turned and her eyes fell on Daryl. He felt himself freeze at the sight of her eyes. A shade of dark blue like the sky right before the sun started to rise in the mornings and right now, there were unshed tears making them look like they were sparkling under the fluorescent lighting of the doughnut shop.

Suddenly, Daryl was seven years old again, looking at his mom with the same tears in her eyes, ready to get yet another beating from the old man and Daryl had stood there, not able to help her, not able to do anything except run to his closet and hide and cover his ears even though he was still able to hear his mom's shrieks and her tears as she pleaded with the old man to stop and told him again and again how sorry she was for whatever small infraction she had done this time to make him so mad.

Daryl knew this girl in front of him wasn't his mom but she could have been her sister or daughter or aunt and Daryl couldn't be seven years old again. He _wasn't_. He was a forty-year-old man who could easily take on this preppy asshole who was making this girl cry just like his old man had made his mom cry.

"Beth, come on," Zach tugged on her arm with such a force, she stumbled towards him.

Daryl had seen enough and still without saying a word to any of them, he walked right up to Zach, brought his fist back and collided it with the asshole's eye. Instantly, the grip he had on Beth's arm was gone as he fell back to the floor. Beth gasped in shock and her eyes widened as she turned them to Daryl.

Daryl glanced at her, wondering what he was expecting to see. Was she one of those girls who would defend the guy beating her up against everyone? Would she fall on her knees next to Zach and make sure he was okay and apologize to him for everything?

Daryl almost held his breath to see what she would do because for some damn strange reason, it was important to him that she wasn't one of those girls. Don't make him regret getting up and coming to her aid if she was just going to turn around and make him out to be the bad guy. This is why he always stuck to his own business. Most people didn't deserve help and the world had disappointed him too many times before he just turned his back on the whole big mess of it and kept to himself.

Beth sniffled and wiped at her cheeks. She then turned to Zach, still groaning on the floor, his hand cupped over the eye that Daryl's fist had met, and she swiftly kicked him in the leg, making him release another pained groan.

Daryl almost felt his lips twitching as if he was going to smile but he controlled himself.

"Thank you," Beth said, looking back to him and he could hear the kindness in her voice that made him want to squirm uncomfortably and Daryl shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal and to him, it wasn't. Was just something that had to be done.

Without saying anything to her, or to any of them, Daryl turned and returned to his booth, half-eaten doughnut and now lukewarm cup of coffee. He could still feel Beth's eyes on him but he didn't look at her again and instead, went back to reading over the ads on the place-mat.

…

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 **Thank you so much for reading and let me know what you think so far! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!**


	2. French Cruller

**Your warm response to any story I write always blows me away and I feel like I never quite know how to handle it except to say infintely thank you. In this story, I plan on focusing on Daryl's past abuse and childhood - which I haven't really done in my other stories - and Beth will sort of become the catalyst in his life that makes him face a lot of things he has buried and ignored for so long.**

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 **Chapter Two.** French Cruller.

T-Dog had Rosita call the police, which wasn't exactly a surprise to Beth. After all, she had hurried in here, probably looking like a mess, and then Zach had come and she tried to remember why she had fallen in love with him in the first place. They had been dating for two years so surely, there had to be something about him that made her want to stay. But seeing him now, sitting at one of the stools at the counter with a bag of ice Rosita had almost reluctantly given him, holding it to his eye and speaking with the Sheriff, she couldn't think of anything. And especially not with her arm throbbing like it was. She looked down to it now. It was already forming an ugly purple bruise and she wanted to kick him again.

She turned her head and looked curiously towards the man sitting in a booth beside the window. He had just finished his doughnut and brushed the lingering crumbs from his fingers over the plate. He then picked up his coffee cup and tilted his head back, draining it empty. Beth knew that he could probably feel her eyes on him, watching him, but he never once glanced towards her again. In fact, he didn't look at anything happening in the doughnut shop; as if this was something that happened every other morning in his life. A stupid girl with an asshole boyfriend who had to be punched and then the Sheriff coming to take statements.

"Here, Beth," T-Dog said from behind her and she turned back towards the counter to see that he had refilled her coffee mug for the second time. She hadn't even paid attention to when she had drank the first cup and hadn't even registered tasting it.

"Thank you," she smiled graciously at him and he smiled in return as if they had been friends for years before heading back towards into the kitchen to continue filling the air with the scent of the donuts he was making. Her stomach rumbled and she looked to the cases that had already been filled.

She couldn't remember the last time she had a doughnut and now, she looked at the variety and couldn't quite remember seeing something as appetizing. She would have one once this whole mess was finished and taken care of.

The Sheriff had asked her if she wanted to press charges against Zach and she had shaken her head. No, she didn't even though she thought it would be enjoyable to see Zach being put into handcuffs. But no, even though she felt he deserved it, she couldn't quite bring herself to have such a thing done to him. Beth didn't know if she loved him anymore or not but two years was a long time to be with someone and _not_ feel something for the person. And it wasn't as if he did this all of the time. They fought, yes, but there had never been violent fights and this time was the only time she had ever been frightened of him.

Beth's eyes floated back to the man in the booth. He was standing up and now tossing a couple of wrinkled singles onto the table. She felt a bubble of panic in her chest. He was going to leave and she didn't even know his name or if she would ever see him again and suddenly, seeing this man and speaking to him once more was more important than anything else in that moment.

She rushed forward away from the counter and placed herself directly into his path. He stopped walking abruptly when he saw her and Beth had absolutely no idea what to say. She had already thanked him but he had seemed to care less about her gratitude. She knew what he probably thought about her; what Rosita and T-Dog thought, too. Just another girl in an abusive relationship who couldn't leave her boyfriend because she loved him and he was so sweet to her most of the time.

But the thing was, Beth hadn't even thought she was in an abusive relationship until tonight. Tonight, they had been sitting in Zach's car and she was laughing over something silly that a boy in one of her classes had done and Zach had just exploded at it. He had yelled and slapped her right across the face and Beth had been so stunned, she hadn't been able to move. No one had ever struck her like that before. Sure, her brother, sister and her had sometimes gotten into tussles that all siblings got into but her parents had never even spanked her. And then, as if someone had just shocked an electrical current through her, she bolted from his car, leaving her coat and purse behind and running without even looking where she was even going. Seeing the lights coming from the doughnut shop had been some sort of miracle and she had run right for it.

She now found herself going over her entire relationship with Zach with a fine-tooth comb. Yes, he had always been a bit possessive of her but she had never gotten any red flags from it. She had just thought that he was being protective and she felt almost cherished at how he didn't want any other guy even looking at her.

She was such an idiot and she almost wanted to groan. She should have known as soon as Zach got angry when she spent the afternoon with Glenn, her brother-in-law, and Beth had had to calm Zach down, assuring him that they had just been shopping for a gift for her older sister, Glenn's wife, Maggie. _Of course_ nothing was going on between her and Glenn!

Why the hell hadn't she seen this earlier?

"Hold on there, Daryl," the Sheriff spoke then and Beth continued looking up at the man.

Daryl. She didn't even know him and yet, the name seemed to fit him perfectly. Daryl. She wondered what his last name was. She was wondering so much about him now. Where did he live? Obviously nearby if he was in the doughnut shop at such an early hour and if the Sheriff knew him. How old was he? Older than her, if the few grey hairs sprouting amongst the dark hair on his chin were any indication. He looked tired, slight bags underneath his eyes, but his eyes were sharp and alert, as if he was the type of person who was never able to be surprised because he noticed everything.

He had dark hair, in need of a trim and covering his ears. He wore dark jeans with a hole in the knee, worn work boots and a flannel shirt underneath a leather vest. Beth could be observant, too, and she felt it was very important to remember everything about this man.

"Thank you," she said against because she didn't know what else to say.

What did a person exactly say in situations like this? Thank you for punching my boyfriend because he had already slapped me once and was seconds away from doing it again? Was Zach even still technically her boyfriend? Of course he wasn't, Beth, she shouted at herself. He had slapped her and grabbed her arm so tightly, it was still aching. Of course he wasn't her boyfriend anymore. She didn't care if they had been dating for two years. She was not going to be the girl who stuck with a boy who hit her.

Daryl stared at her and didn't say anything and the longer he stood there, staring at her and staying silent, Beth felt as if she was maybe doing something wrong.

"Gonna wanna put ice on that," he finally spoke even though Beth thought it was more like a grunt but whatever it was, she swore it sent a shiver down her spine. His voice was rough but not in a way that Zach's had just been moments earlier. She wasn't entirely sure how but it was rough and gentle all mixed in together and she couldn't remember ever hearing something quite like it before.

Beth quickly looked down to the forming bruise on his arm. "Oh, it's alright," she said, looking back up at him as if she didn't want to miss a second of him. And maybe she didn't. It wasn't as if she knew him but she already knew that she had never met anyone like him.

"For that," he grunted and his hand gestured to her face.

Her brow furrowed but then she turned her head, catching her reflection in the side of the napkin holder on the counter and when she did, she nearly gasped. Her lip… she hadn't even known. When Zach had slapped her, she had been so stunned and surprised and she had been so cold and frightened, she must not have registered that her upper lip at the corner of her mouth was swollen and stained with dry blood.

He had made her bleed. Her eyes cut over to Zach still sitting on the stool, the Sheriff still asking him questions and Beth had the rising urge to give him another kick – this time between his legs.

She looked back to Daryl. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this."

He shrugged and it seemed as if his time for speaking had passed. He looked past her to Zach and he seemed to be studying him now, too, for a moment before looking to her. His eyes were blue, like hers, but she could see perhaps the faintest hint of green mixed in – like the color of waves when they crashed onto the shore.

"He gonna press charges?" He asked her.

"Unless he wants his balls kicked up his throat, he won't," Beth answered and he looked at her, surprised for a moment, and then he nodded, lowering his eyes to the floor. "And I know you're probably tired of me saying this but thank you. For the wake up call."

He still didn't look at her. He gave his head a single head nod before walking past her, heading towards the Sheriff. Beth turned and watched Daryl say something to the man and then together, Daryl and the Sheriff walked out of the doughnut shop. Beth stood there for a moment, looking at them through the window before letting out a soft sigh. She wished she could do something more to show Daryl how grateful she was for what he had done for her this morning but she knew that he didn't want her to say anything else to him. She looked at him and she felt this sudden rush of longing and emptiness; like waking up from a dream and knowing it was a really good dream but not being able to remember any of it.

She didn't understand why she would be feeling like that but looking at Daryl in that moment, she wondered if she would ever see him again.

By then, more people had started coming into the doughnut shop. Stopping in before going off to their different jobs, grabbing doughnuts and cups of coffee and it was all a whirl of activity and Beth stood there in the middle of it, still trying to look out the window and watch Daryl and the Sheriff. She didn't want to miss a second of him because it felt as if seconds were all she had left of him having any type of presence in her life.

"Beth."

She turned then around and saw Rosita standing on the other side of the counter, smiling. She pushed a plate towards her with a French cruller towards her. "On the house," she said.

"Rosita, you don't have to keep giving things to me on the house," Beth said. "I can pay you."

She reached for her purse but then she remembered that her purse and coat were still in Zach's car. She looked to her _ex_ -boyfriend and she couldn't help but be nervous as she went to him. It wasn't as if she expected him to do something – especially in front of all of these people – but she still didn't want to put herself near him at the moment or anytime soon.

"I need my purse and coat," she said, stopping herself in front of him, keeping enough distance between them and trying not to look at his black eye nearly swollen shut now.

Without speaking a word to her, Zach reached into his pocket and tossed her the car keys.

Beth turned and headed outside and she couldn't help but feel a lightness in her chest because Daryl was outside and she was going outside now, too. As she walked towards Zach's car, parked haphazardly in the first spot. Daryl and the Sheriff were speaking by the Sheriff's car and the Sheriff looked at her and nodded his head towards her in greeting but Daryl didn't look at her. He had lit a cigarette and smoked that, looking down to the ground.

She took her coat and purse from the floor in front of the front passenger seat and gratefully slipped her coat on again, instantly feeling warm once more. She left the keys on the front seat and then taking a deep breath, she headed towards the two men. Her eyes settled on Daryl for a moment but he was still looking down to the ground and smoking his cigarette and she looked at the Sheriff after she decided to no longer embarrass herself by looking at this man like some sort of love-struck schoolgirl.

"What's going to happen with Zach?" Beth asked even though she already had.

"That depends on you," the Sheriff answered. "If you press charges, we take him in. He spends a little time in jail until he makes bail and is scheduled to have a date in court. Or, you don't press charges and he goes home right now."

Beth's lips parted as if she was going to speak but she honestly didn't know what to say. Did Zach deserve to have handcuffs slapped on him? Definitely. But did Beth actually want to do that to him? To have him go to jail and have to go to court and have something like that on his permanent record? All love she felt for him had been wiped away with one slap but she had been with him for two years and deep down, that still maybe meant something.

"No," she heard herself answer. "I don't want to press charges."

She heard a soft snort and her head turned to see that it had been Daryl, smoking and smirking and looking so amused about the whole thing. She frowned, her brow furrowing at him. She didn't understand his reaction. Why would she not pressing charges against Zach make him smirk? Unless… unless that was what was amusing to him. A girl gets slapped by her boyfriend and she doesn't do a thing about it.

"Alright, your call, Beth," the Sheriff broke into his thoughts. "I'll go let Zach know and you're all free to go. Daryl, I'll talk to you later."

Daryl nodded his head and didn't say anything, taking a puff of his cigarette. The Sheriff went back into the doughnut shop and Beth found herself alone with Daryl. She took another moment to study him. She wondered how old he was and she wondered why she was finding him so attractive. He wasn't at all like the other guys she had found herself attracted to in her life. And then she wondered if she was finding him attractive just because he had been some sort of white knight to her.

"What do you do?" She heard herself ask and it was becoming a habit all of a sudden while around him– speaking without even realizing it – and she certainly didn't expect Daryl to answer her.

"Work in the warehouse down the street," he answered, glancing at her for only a second before looking away from her and focusing on anything else.

There were a few warehouses in this particular part of town and she wondered which one he worked at and what exactly he did at the warehouse and then she wondered why answers to these questions were so important to her. It must have been the adrenaline from everything that had happened that morning. Her brain was going a mile a minute and she wasn't thinking clearly.

"I'm a student," she told him even though he obviously hadn't asked and why would he care? "Senior. Going to graduate in May. I'm going to be a music teacher," she said and she could hear the excitement and pride in her own voice. "I actually have class this morning…" she trailed off when she saw the door of the shop open and Zach walked out.

Beth found herself holding her breath, watching him, and in the back of her mind, she realized that she was inching a little closer to Daryl as if she expected Zach to attack her again and she could sense Daryl tensing from beside her. But Zach didn't even look in her direction as he got into his car and seconds later, he was squealing out of the parking lot.

And once he was gone, and gone for good, Beth heard herself exhale a deep breath.

She cast a quick glance towards Daryl and took a hurried step back from him. "Sorry."

Daryl frowned at her and his reaction caught her by surprise. "Why are you women always apologizin' all the damn time?"

Beth wasn't too sure how to answer that so she looked at him and said nothing.

"All you women just stand there and then apologize for takin' up too much space and air. 's fuckin' disgustin'," he muttered and Beth really had no idea what to say but it seemed as if Daryl wasn't waiting for her to respond. Beth stood there and watched as he walked away from her and climbed astride a motorcycle parked nearby and she then watched as he roared away. She watched until he was just a speck and then he was completely gone.

Beth wasn't too sure how long she stood there, watching the empty road that Daryl had just disappeared down, but then she snapped herself out of it and turned, heading back into the doughnut shop. It still seemed to be the height of the morning rush but Beth found the French Cruller Rosita had put on a plate for her still on the counter. She sat down on a stool and pulled the doughnut closer to her and took the first bite, closing her eyes with pleasure as she did. Oh, yes. It had been far too long since she had a doughnut and this might have to be something she start doing every morning from now on.

"Hey!" Rosita appeared in front of her and poured a fresh cup of coffee.

"Hey," Beth smiled and slid a five dollar bill across the counter towards her.

"Okay, that is way too much but I'm going to consider this as part of my tip," Rosita smiled.

"Please do. You have definitely earned ten times more than this and I won't forget it," Beth said and Rosita gave her a quick wink before she rushed off to help another customer.

Beth sat there and ate her doughnut and listened to the chatter of morning commuters and regulars mixed together all around her. She could hear T-Dog in the kitchen, pans banging around and a Stevie Wonder song playing over the radio and T-Dog singing along with it. Beth wondered how it had taken her so long to discover this place.

She picked up her mug and took her first sip of coffee. And the instant she did, she winced and she thought of Daryl's words of advice. She really needed to put some ice on her lip.

…

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 **Thank you so much for reading!**


	3. Strawberry Frosted

_**Cornerstone**_ **was kind of Beth's story with Daryl pulling her up and this is going to kind of be Daryl's story and Beth is pulling him up this time. I'm very excited. Also, each chapter is going to be named after a different sort of doughnut but it's not going to have anything really to do with the actual chapter unless you tilt your head and squint.**

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 **Chapter Three.** Strawberry Frosted.

He had a grandma once. His mom's mom. Grandma Liv. She had been born and grew up in eastern Kentucky, in Appalachia, dirt poor with no electricity or running water, and when she was old enough to leave, she did, heading further south in hopes of finding some work. In Georgia, she met Grandpa Chris, fell in love and got married when she was sixteen and had her only child, Anne, when she was seventeen.

Daryl had never met his grandpa but he heard from his grandma that his grandpa had been a good man. A hardworking, kind man who had loved his wife and daughter very much. He had been a machinist and died from an accident while at work. And then, two years later, Anne met Will Dixon and fell in love with him. Will was older and lived on his own and worked as a dishwasher and everything about him was rough and wild and Anne was hooked, ignoring the pleas of her mother to find another man to love. Will introduced her to smoking and drinking and sex and he gave her an excitement she had never known.

And just like Liv before her, Anne was married and pregnant all before she was eighteen. Daryl remembered Grandma Liv coming to the house whenever Will was off on some bender or with another woman and he would listen as the older woman cried and pleaded with her daughter to leave. To take Daryl and Merle and get away from her husband. And Daryl could still hear his mom so clearly telling Grandma Liv that she couldn't leave Will. She loved him and she knew that somewhere deep down in his heart, Will loved her, too. And Anne was able to say this even with her wrist in a cast or her eye swollen shut.

When Anne died amongst flames and left nothing behind her but ashes, Daryl went to stay with Grandma Liv for a while. And if Daryl looked back on all of his life, the time he spent with his grandma was the best time of his life. He went to school five days a week and took baths and had breakfast and dinner in his belly. It only lasted a month though because one morning, Daryl woke up to get ready for school but Grandma Liv didn't get up, too. She was buried beside her daughter and husband in the small cemetery and for a while, Daryl had the habit of going there every day after school, prolonging having to go home to his dad.

But then, he started going to school less and less and started spending more and more time in the woods and then Merle came back and Daryl went with him the second he was able to. He couldn't remember the last time he went to go see his grandparents and his mom and there was something about Beth in that doughnut shop. He looked at her and even though she was more like his mom, she made him think of his grandmother for the first time in years and how she always gave him an Oreo cookie for a snack after school.

He wondered if he would still be able to find their graves if he went back to that cemetery.

…

He had gotten himself an apartment above an insurance office. It was nothing fancy. A small living room. A small kitchen. A minuscule bathroom and a small bedroom. But he didn't need a lot of space and it was more space than he had ever had before. And it was all his. He didn't have to share it with anyone. He had never had that before.

After leaving the doughnut shop, Daryl went straight home. He nodded his head through the front window to Carol, one of the two people who worked in the insurance office and she smiled at him in return, giving him as a wave as she continued on with her conversation she was having on the phone. Daryl headed up the stairs and pulled out his keys, unlocking his door at the top. He couldn't help but give a sigh of relief when he was home, the door closed and locked once more behind him and nothing but silence in his ears. He wouldn't have to deal with people for the next twelve hours.

He dropped his keys on the counter and went to the sink in the kitchen, getting himself a glass of water. He then stood at the window in the living room as he sipped it. The town in Georgia he had found himself in was small. Sleepy as some people would call it. Home to a small university and he couldn't help but find himself thinking of Beth. She said she was a senior so that would make her twenty-one or twenty-two. He didn't want to think about her though and tried to shake her from his mind. No reason to think of a girl like her. Or _any_ girl for that matter. His older brother, Merle, had always been the one who loved women and sometimes, if it wasn't drugs, his life very much revolved around women and it wasn't as if Daryl didn't like them. He just never saw himself wanting to be near any of them.

He didn't really want to be around anyone.

But it seemed as if the harder he tried to get Beth from his mind, the more she stubbornly stuck around. And thinking about her just made him scowl because who the hell was she who he should even waste another thought on? Just some stupid young girl, pretty and seemingly kind, who was dating an asshole who slapped her around and who she didn't press charges against. And Daryl knew that if she stuck with Zach, she wouldn't be pretty for long. That guy would beat it out of her until she was as rough looking as the world she had decided to live in.

When staying with Grandma Liv, Daryl used to look at her photo albums. Black and white pictures when she was a girl in Kentucky and then at the life she and Grandpa Chris had built together. Daryl would look at pictures of his mom when she was a younger woman and Daryl hadn't even recognized her at first and had to ask grandma who she was. Will Dixon had taken Anne's beauty and rubbed it down and snuffed it out until nothing was left. And it would be the same story with Beth.

Daryl didn't know why the hell he cared so much.

He finished his water and went to place the glass in the sink to be washed later. He then headed into the bedroom, already yawning just at the sight of his bed. He tugged off his boots, tossed his clothes into the hamper in the corner, pulled down the shades over the window to give the room some dimness against the bright sun outside and then crawled into between the cool sheets. He sighed as soon as his head hit the pillow.

He was exhausted but he laid there, not able to get his mind to shut the hell up enough for him to get some sleep. Maybe he stayed the hell away from women because he didn't understand them. Who in their right mind would stay with a man who beat them around? Who the hell wouldn't press charges against the man when the cops showed up and Daryl could remember his mom answering the door with blood dripping from her nose and holding her torn blouse together and the cops asked and she had just shaken her head.

"Family disagreement," she would always say and Daryl remembered the way the cops would hesitate, obviously wanting to do something but not being able to if the victim didn't want anything done and they had always left.

So many times, Daryl wanted to yell after them that they had to do something even though he knew he never would because Anne would be angry with him and when Will got out of jail again, he would come home, even more furious and beat them all. They were Dixons and no matter what the outside world saw, their business was very much their own and no one else had any right to stick their nose in it.

Daryl felt the scars covering his back beginning to burn and they hadn't done that in so long, he rolled onto his side in hopes of relieving some of the pressure. The scars were always there and it wasn't as if he could forget about them entirely but he was able to get through most days without thinking about them. And now, here they were, scalding him as if Will had just given them to him, and Daryl knew why he was thinking about them now.

Not a single part of him had been surprised when Rick had asked Beth if she wanted to press charges and she had said no. Of course she had said no. And he hadn't been able to stop himself from snorting at the whole damn predictable thing. He had seen this same scene play in front of him so many times, he felt as if he was experiencing déjà vu.

He just didn't know why he felt so damn disappointed that Beth had done the exact thing he had expected her to. And he didn't know why the hell he couldn't stop thinking about her. Who the hell was she? She wasn't his mom. She wasn't anyone. Just another stupid girl who would get herself killed one of these days and that wasn't his problem.

…

He had a clock on the table next to the bed but he never set the alarm. His body always woke him up naturally and there was something jarring to being jolted awake by a blaring siren and he had never liked the idea much.

Daryl woke up around two in the afternoon and he laid there for a moment, knowing he had gotten enough sleep but his brain still feeling tired. He listened to the ticking of the clock and the birds chirping outside and his shift didn't start until eight o'clock that night so it wasn't as if he had to get out of bed right this second. He wasn't one to linger though and he pulled himself up, instantly turning around and neatly making the bed once more. He then went into the bathroom where he showered and then came out, putting on some clean jeans and a tee-shirt that he had just washed the day before at the Laundromat next door.

After fixing himself a bologna sandwich for lunch, he sat down on the couch and turned on the television though he didn't really watch the ghost hunting show that was on and he looked out the window as he ate. He saw that a robin had landed on the windowsill and was hopping around, his wings fluttering but he didn't take off. He seemed content to stay there, taking a break from flying for a few minutes. His mom had always loved birds. He remembered that she had had these ceramic statues that fit in the palm of her hand lining a shelf in the living room. Of course, they didn't last. Nothing did. And Daryl would listen to her sniffle as she picked up the broken shards from the floor after another of Will's wrath.

When she died, and the whole house having gone up in flames, there had been one little bird left. A red cardinal but it burned along with everything else and Daryl had seen millions of birds in his life since then but this was the first time he had thought of that cardinal and the way he had wanted that stupid little statue as much as he wanted his mom.

Finishing his sandwich, he turned the television off and stood up, grabbing his wallet and leaving the apartment with something set in his mind and he wasn't going to think about it. He was just going to do it.

The hardware store was a couple of blocks down, small and independently owned - Otis's - and Daryl stepped in through the door, a bell tinkling overhead to announce his arrival. There were signs hanging over each aisle to inform everyone of what they contained and Daryl's eyes scanned over them, finding the one he needed. _Animal Feed_. Aisle Five. Last aisle.

The aisle was stacked with dog food and cat food, fish food, bird food and any other sort of feed for any sort of household pet that a person might own. Daryl stopped himself in front of the bags of bird feed and looked them all over, trying to figure out what the best kind would be to buy for birds to come outside his window.

"Hi! Can I help you with something?"

He turned his head and there was Beth, wearing a green smock apron and a bright smile. Daryl just stared at her. She had changed from the dress she had been wearing that morning. She wore jeans now and a plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled to her elbows and her hair was scooped up in a ponytail. His eyes couldn't help but go to her lip. It was a little swollen but she had obviously covered it up with makeup and was hardly noticeable. Daryl remembered a lot of makeup scattered across the dresser top in his mom's bedroom.

Daryl didn't answer her question but she just kept smiling.

"Do you have a bird at home?" She then asked.

"No," he finally grunted with a head shake. "Jus' thinkin' of feedin' the ones outside."

"I love birds," she said and Daryl felt a knot in his stomach as he stared at the bags of birdseed and nothing else. He refused to look at her.

Her name was Beth. Not Anne.

"I always said that if I could be any animal, it would be a bird. A sparrow probably. I love the sparrow's song," Beth continued on. "I would get this one," she said and pointed to a bag on the bottom shelf. An eight pound bag for ten bucks for wild birds. "I use this one on my daddy's farm to fill the feeders. Do you need a feeder?"

Daryl didn't want to but he nodded his head that he did.

He bent down and easily hoisted the bag under one arm and when he turned, he found himself looking right at her. She was still smiling but it had softened now. Wasn't quite as wide and manic but it was still bright and he didn't know why she was smiling at him. Her smile at him only made him frown at her but she didn't seem to mind.

"I'm guessing you live in an apartment," Beth said. Daryl didn't confirm or deny but Beth didn't seem to mind. "We sell a few feeders with suction cups on them so you can stick them right to your window. I have one on my bedroom window and sometimes, I just sit there and watch them eat. Do you think you'd want one of those?"

"Sounds good," Daryl heard himself grunt and Beth beamed.

The hardware store had two bird feeders with the suction cups and Daryl thought he would go for the cheapest one for eight dollars but the one for fifteen made him stop and look. It was just a square plastic box with two suction cups on the back and an easy top to slide open but it was seemed much sturdier than the other one and after a moment, Daryl picked up the box for that one.

"Excellent choice," Beth smiled and he wondered if she owned the same one.

He couldn't help but imagine her sitting at her bedroom window, watching the birds eat and sing and fly about and maybe she dreamed about flying away herself. He wondered if his mom had ever dreamed about the same thing.

"You work here?" He asked.

"Nope," she laughed lightly. "I just walk around the aisles in a green apron."

He almost felt his lips twitch like they had when she had kicked her boyfriend when he was lying on the floor of the doughnut shop but just as he had then, he stopped himself before he could. He really didn't want to smile at this girl. He told himself there was no reason to smile at her. Just another stupid girl who he wouldn't be able to save.

Not that he was looking to save anyone.

"It's one of my jobs. One of my daddy's friends, Otis, owns this place and I work here on Tuesdays and Thursdays because I only have one morning class. And then Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I give piano lessons to kids around town," she told him.

Daryl nodded. He'd be sure to avoid this place on those days.

"I can ring you up," she then offered and he found himself following her to the front counter where the store's single cash register was. He set the bag and box down on the counter and took out his wallet as Beth began scanning the items. "I hope you like this one. If not, the store has a thirty day return policy." She paused. "But I think you're going to love it," she said and smiled at him. "$26.65," she then said.

Daryl tried to tell himself that it was okay if he spent this money. He had worked hard for it and had earned it in a legal way. Driving a forklift around and schlepping boxes around for nine hours a night, he had definitely earned this and it was okay to spend some of it. He put money aside every month to make sure he was never late on rent or any of his other bills and after that, he still had a bit of leftover money to spend. It wasn't like it was when he was a kid or even when he had been with Merle; never having enough food to eat or even really a pot to piss in. He was on his own now and making his own way in this world and he could afford to feed the birds if he wanted to.

He handed her a twenty and a ten and he waited but Beth held the bills and didn't put them into the cash drawer. She kept looking at him and Daryl almost told her to keep the change so he could just leave and not listen to what she was going to say to him.

"I broke up with Zach," she then blurted out as if she thought he would care. "I mean, _of course_ , I broke up with Zach. There was no way I was going to stay with him after…"

And maybe a part of him did care but he made sure to keep his face blank because a much larger part of himself didn't. It was something he had heard before and that's all it was. Just a bunch of empty words and waste of breath that never meant nothing.

Beth slid the money into the drawer and then handed him his change and receipt. He didn't say anything as he put everything away and then slung the bag of bird feed up onto his shoulder and held the bird feeder box under his other arm. He then looked at Beth. At her big blue eyes and the soft tint of pink of her cheeks against her white skin. And the swollen upper lip.

Daryl shook his head. "You'll be back with 'im by the end of the week," he told her and with that, he turned and left the hardware store, and her, and the bell tinkled softly behind him.

…

* * *

 **Thank you so much for reading!**


	4. Boston Crème

**As always, this is a bit of a slow burn story and at the moment, Daryl is more surly than he usually is in my other stories. That, of course, will change but not for the moment.**

* * *

…

 **Chapter Four**. Boston Crème.

The music building on campus had small soundproof rooms where students could practice without disturbing everyone else around them. Beth had signed out room number three for the night and she spent the next few hours at the piano, working on her senior composition. She wasn't sure why but she did some of her best writing at night when the rest of the world was sleeping. Well, _most_ of the world.

And just like that, Daryl floated into her mind – which seemed to have happened often even though she had just seen him for the first time this past morning. He was awake somewhere, working his nights away at one of the warehouses in town, and she sat on the piano bench, turning her head and looking out the window.

She wondered which warehouse he worked in. She wondered what he did every night. She wondered where he lived and if he had a family and she wondered what his last name was. She wondered so much about him. She wondered why he seemed to have her so much.

She wasn't certain that he actually did hate her but it was just a feeling she got around him. He never smiled and he was always looking at her as if he was controlling a thinly veiled anger. She had apologized for dragging him into her soap opera but it wasn't as if she had asked for him to get involved. He had punched Zach all on his own but he seemed to blame her for that, too. She told herself to just stop thinking about him and forget about him altogether but there was something about him that wouldn't leave her mind. It wasn't as if she knew anything about him except his name – not even his last name – but it was obvious to her that he was like no one else she had ever met.

He was gruff and very rough around his edges and older and she probably never would have looked at a man like him if she had met him at any other time in her life under any other sort of circumstances. But now, she couldn't stop herself from being curious about him. And it wasn't just about him punching Zach in the face and saving her from his bruising grip. There was something else. Something she wasn't even sure what to call yet because she had never quite felt this before towards anyone before. But it was there – with Daryl. Something that she couldn't ignore and just push away. It had been there for not even twenty-four hours yet and Beth knew this curiosity she had about the man named Daryl wasn't going anywhere.

 _You'll be back with 'im by the end of the week._

Not only did he make her curious but he also made her a little miffed, his comment from the hardware store also unable to leave her mind. She wasn't sure why he cared what she thought but just as she was curious about him, she supposed she wanted him to be curious about her, too. And she didn't want him to think so lowly of her. Zach had slapped her and given her a swollen lip and a bruise on her arm. What else would she have done if not break up with him. There was no way she could continue to stay with him. She knew plenty of girls stayed with the boys who abused them but Beth wasn't going to be one of them.

And she had no idea why it was important to her that Daryl knew that about her.

She kept writing and playing and as she usually did when at the piano, Beth lost all track of time and when she finally finished, it was almost four o'clock. She let out a yawn as if seeing that time on her phone automatically made her sleepy and she stood up, gathering all of her composition sheets of music and carefully slipped them into her messenger bag before leaving the practice room.

Coffee. She desperately needed coffee.

The campus was still quiet. The earliest classes for any of the different majors didn't start until eight. Beth, thankfully, had her first class at ten so she would be able to go home and get a couple of hours of sleep – even if she did have a cup of coffee, which she really needed. Beth supposed she was a bit of a coffee addict but she truly did need it to function properly.

It seemed as if her feet were able to function without much help from her brain and without even realizing it, they had taken her right to Theodore's Doughnut Shop. She stood outside, looking at the building, wondering why she had come back here but deep down, she knew. She wanted to see Daryl again and she hoped that he would be here. The lights had just flipped on and she saw T-Dog through the front glass door, flipping the sign over to 'OPEN' and he saw her outside. He instantly grinned and pushed the door open.

"Good morning!" He greeted her cheerfully.

Beth smiled in return. She should have guessed that a man who owned a doughnut shop would be a morning person. "Good morning," she greeted in return, coming towards him and stepping into the small, warm shop. As it had yesterday, the air already smelled heavenly of dough baking, of sugar, cinnamon and chocolate and Beth couldn't help but take a whiff of it as if it was her favorite perfume.

"What'll you have?" He asked, walking around the counter.

"Coffee," she answered immediately. "And… the Boston Crème," she ordered once she had looked over the doughnuts already on display.

"Excellent choice," T-Dog grinned and placed the still warm doughnut on a plate and then filled a ceramic mug from the pot of coffee that had just finished brewing. Beth handed him a five dollar bill and then showed herself to one of the booths as T-Dog turned and returned to his place in the kitchen.

She heard a roar of an approaching motorcycle outside and Beth had taken her first bite of doughnut when the door opened again and she froze even though she had been hoping he would come. Daryl took one step into the shop, saw her and then seemed to freeze. He stared at her and didn't move and she gave him a small smile. He didn't even acknowledge her though before he turned and sat him in a booth on the other side of the shop, never once looking at her again.

Beth frowned to herself. Why was this man so grumpy towards her? Why did he hate her? All she had done was smile at him.

Not thinking it through further, she grabbed her bag, coffee and doughnut and walked straight for his booth. Without a word, she slid in across from him and got herself settled. When she looked at him, he was giving her a fierce frown.

"What the hell are you doin'?" He all but growled at her.

Beth just gave him a sugary sweet smile and shrugged. "Eating breakfast," she replied.

She expected Daryl to say something, to argue, to order her to get the hell away from him, but Rosita came to the table then and gave them both a tired smile as if Beth and Daryl sat together every morning for their doughnuts and coffee. Beth gave her a smile in return and didn't say anything but Rosita still looked half asleep and unlike T-Dog, it was obvious that Rosita wasn't a morning person and nothing was worse to a non-morning person than someone being overly perky and chatty at such an early hour.

She poured Daryl a cup of coffee and then pulled out an order pad. She then began patting her pockets and Daryl pointed a finger towards her hair. Rosita smiled and pulled a pencil out and Beth smiled a little, looking at Daryl, but he was doing quite a good job of never having his eyes go towards her. But then something made him pause and he did look at Beth then, just as she had taken a bite of her doughnut and he frowned. Beth's brow furrowed, wondering why he was frowning _this_ time.

He then sighed heavily and looked back to Rosita. "Boston Crème," he grumbled and Beth almost felt like giggling because he seemed so put out that they would be eating the same kind of doughnut in the same booth.

She didn't mean to anger him or drive him crazy but she had to admit that it was kind of fun. She wondered why he didn't get up and go to a different booth to eat his breakfast. He probably assumed that Beth would get up and follow him and maybe she would.

Rosita came back with his doughnut and then with one more tired smile at them, she turned and headed behind the swinging door labeled for Employees Only.

Daryl took a bite of his doughnut and turned his head, looking out the window, thusly acting as if she wasn't even there. But Beth didn't mind. He was still there and he hadn't gotten up and moved and Beth felt oddly pleased with that.

She decided not to torture him further by trying to talk with him. Instead, she reached into her bag and pulled out her textbook for her ten o'clock class – _History of Blues Music_. She had a quiz that day about Robert Johnson and though she had already studied, she figured it would be a good time to review one last time.

She sipped her coffee and read over the facts she already knew from the open book in front of her and after a few minutes, feeling something heavy upon her, she lifted her eyes to see that Daryl's eyes were now on her. She hesitated for only a moment before she gave him a small smile. She expected him to look away the instant he knew she was looking at him but surprising her, he just kept his eyes on her.

"Do you know Robert Johnson? He's one of the greatest blues musicians the genre has. He was from the 1930s. He was so good, people thought he had sold his soul to the devil to make him a great musician," she told him.

Daryl didn't say anything. He just sipped his coffee and kept looking at her.

"A lot of his songs were about being a black man in the south during that age, having the KKK running around at his heels. It's powerful stuff to listen to," Beth continued. "Do you like blues music?" She asked though she didn't expect him to answer.

And he didn't.

She reached into her bag and pulled out a small stack of CDs in thin different colored plastic cases. She sifted through them and once she found the one she was looking for, she slid the green case across the table towards him. _Robert Johnson_ was written in black marker with little music notes drawn around his name.

"I made myself a mix to listen to when I was studying for the quiz I have today on him," she explained to him. "I don't need it right now though. You can listen to it. I think you'll like it."

She said that even though she had absolutely no idea if he would or not. Maybe he liked southern rock or country or maybe he was one of those strange people who didn't like music at all. Beth had never understood those kinds of people. How could a person not like music? It was so foreign to her. Music was her entire life.

"Give it a listen and let me know what you think," she said with a smile.

Daryl didn't move for a moment but then he picked up the CD case and looked it over. She waited for him to push the case back towards her, refusing it, but surprisingly, he put it down and slid it closer to his plate as if he didn't want to forget it when he left. And Beth couldn't help but smile a bit wider to herself as she took another bite of her doughnut.

Beth didn't say anything else. She went back to reading her textbook and Daryl went back to looking out the window. They finished their cups of coffee around the same time and Rosita came, refilling their cups just as the first of the morning rush began arriving. Soon, it was too loud and busy in there to study any further and Beth began putting her things away. Without a word, Daryl slid from the booth and stood up, tossing a few bucks onto the table and Beth saw him take the CD with him as he headed for the door. Beth slung her bag over her shoulder and followed him out.

The sky was turning shades of purple, orange and pink now as the sun grew closer to peeking above the eastern horizon and there was an early spring chill in the air. She could hear the birds chirp their morning songs in the trees and she realized she forgot to ask Daryl if he liked his birdfeeder or not. She'd be sure to ask him tomorrow morning when they did this again. He didn't know it but they were definitely doing this again. Not just to annoy him, of course, but because there was that something about him that Beth couldn't ignore and she found herself wanting to just be around him – even if they didn't speak.

She watched as he walked towards his motorcycle. "Have a good day, Daryl!" She called after him and he visibly stiffened for a second before he turned around to look at her. She gave him a smile and wave and began walking across the parking lot.

She could hear him sigh.

"You don't gotta ride?" He asked.

Beth stopped and turned back towards him. "I walked from campus. I can walk home," she said and Daryl stared at her for another moment before sighing again.

"And how far you live from here?" He asked though she could hear the reluctance in his voice as if he didn't really want to ask the question or know the answer.

Beth just kept smiling though. "Are you offering me a ride?"

Daryl didn't say anything. He just climbed onto his bike and sat there and waited. Beth felt a smile burst across her face and she hurried to him, nearly skipping.

"I've never been on a motorcycle before," she said excitedly as she climbed onto the bike behind him and didn't hesitate in sliding her arms around his waist. She felt him stiffen but she didn't care because there was no way she _wasn't_ going to hold onto him. "I live in an apartment on Crescent. Above the beauty salon," she then told him and he nodded.

The day had just started and it already had the best start to it. She had never expected to begin her morning on the back of a motorcycle with her arms around this man. She certainly wasn't going to complain though. This might just be the best way to start any day.

"Jus' don't fall off," he grunted to her right before he started the bike up and Beth tightened her arms around his waist as she felt it rumbling beneath her.

She then couldn't help but shriek once he took off, speeding out of the parking lot and down the road. For the first few seconds, she squeezed her eyes shut against the wind roaring in her face but then, she made herself open them, not wanting to miss this. This was her first motorcycle ride and she didn't know if he would ever offer her another one.

The trees zoomed past them on either side, becoming nothing more than green blurs and she wished she had put her hair up because she could feel it whipping behind her and would probably be a snarl of tangled nests once the ride stopped. Daryl began to slow down and came to a stop at a red light. There were almost to her apartment and she felt disappointment that it was already coming to an end.

"You a'right?" Daryl asked her from over his shoulder.

Beth beamed. "This is amazing!"

Daryl revved the bike and took off again once the light turned green and a bubble of laughter escaped from Beth's throat. Her heart was pounding and she wondered if this was how to felt to fly. All too soon though, they were approaching _A Cut Above the Rest_ hair salon and Daryl pulled up to the curb, stopping the bike. Beth didn't want to but she made herself get off the bike. She stepped up onto the sidewalk and her hands instantly went to her hair, looking over her shoulder to her reflection in the window. As expected, it was a complete disaster. She'd have to take a quick shower before she got some sleep.

She felt breathless as she looked back to Daryl, smiling. "That was wonderful. Thank you."

"Don't be stupid again and decide to walk by yourself this early," he frowned at her.

Beth just shrugged. "It's a small town. It's safe."

"Bad shit happens in small towns all the time," he said, his frown growing deeper.

Beth's own smile began to fade. "I know that and I'm not an idiot. I just think that none of the bad element is up this early and I'm only a few blocks from the doughnut shop."

He snorted at that. "Girl, if I wanted to, I could snatch you right up and no one would ever find you again."

Beth felt her spine bristle at the statement. She narrowed her eyes at him. "T-Dog and Rosita are both witnesses that you were the last person I was seen with."

He shrugged. "'s a big world. Plenty of places for a body to disappear to. Cops could search all over me and they would never find you."

She looked at him for a moment and then shook her head. "I don't like this conversation."

And it had been such a lovely morning.

"You don't have to like it. Jus' tryin' to make you smart," Daryl replied.

"I am smart," she said as she couldn't help but glare at him.

"Smart enough to date a guy who slaps you 'round," he said, almost snorting as if again, the whole thing was so amusing to him.

Beth felt her hands curl into fists hanging at her sides. "I told you. I broke up with Zach. And even if I didn't, why do you care? Who are you? You're just a complete stranger and it's none of your business who I date or don't date."

All amusement left his face now as he stared at her. "You're right 'bout that. Ain't none of my business. So next time you and your boyfriend get into a domestic argument, keep me out of it."

"He's not my boyfriend anymore!" Beth couldn't help but exclaim with frustration. "And I never asked you to step in and help me."

But she was so glad he had because at that moment, she had been absolutely terrified of Zach and Daryl had stood up and saved her.

She didn't tell him that though. Right now, she was too angry to thank him again.

"I'll 'member that next time I see him slap you," Daryl retorted.

"He's not going to slap me again because I'm not dating him anymore and even if I was, how are you so sure he'd slap me again unless you look at Zach and see something that you have in common with him?" Beth fired back.

Her question made Daryl immediately and visibly tense. His eyes seemed to go dark as he stared at her and she could see he was clenching his teeth so tightly together, muscles in his face were twitching. He was furious. More furious than she had ever seen and she almost took a step back in fear. She had just pushed a button but what that was, she didn't know.

Daryl stared at her and almost seemed to snarl. "I ain't never hit a woman before."

He reached into his inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out the Robert Johnson CD. Beth jumped back as he tossed it onto the sidewalk at her feet and then with a rev of the bike's engine, he took off down the street and Beth watched him go. Instantly, she felt a lump of regret lodged in her throat. She hadn't meant that. She hadn't meant to accuse him of being just like Zach. He was absolutely _nothing_ like Zach. One punch to the eye had proved that – not that he had to prove anything to her.

The day had started off so well and now she felt absolutely awful and there was no one to blame but herself for it. What she had said – accused him of – had been terrible.

Beth didn't know how she would do it but she would. She would track him down, somehow, and apologize to his face.

…

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 **Thank you so much for reading and have a wonderful weekend!**


	5. Sour Cream

**I really love writing Daryl's past in this story.**

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…

 **Chapter Five.** Sour Cream.

Daryl didn't smoke in his apartment. He usually opened a window and blew the smoke outside, not wanting to get the smell into the furniture and eventually stain the walls but today, he didn't care.

After attempting to get some sleep and failing miserably, he made a pot of coffee and then sat down on the couch with a mug and he lit a cigarette, watching a few birds flutter excitedly around the bird feeder outside the window, chirping and happily eating the seed.

Other than their happy song, everything else was quiet and for once, Daryl could hardly stand it. He usually reveled in the quiet and preferred everything in his world to be so but today, it being quiet meant that there was nothing for him to do except thing and what he was thinking about, he really didn't want to. Because when it was quiet like this, he couldn't stop himself from hearing his own thoughts. And right now, there was only one thing that could possibly be on his mind.

"No, Daryl," Grandma Liv had told him once, kneeling down in front of him so their eyes were on the same level. "You should never hate anyone. Not even your dad. The world is already a bad enough place without adding more hate to it. Your dad will get his in the end but you need to think about you and what kind of person you want to be. And I know you will be nothing like that man, who is filled with nothing but hate."

Daryl had been seven at the time and hadn't understood what Grandma Liv was talking about– especially when his bottom lip was swollen and throbbing from his old man suddenly backhanding him just earlier.

But her words had stuck with him and he had been so determined to be nothing like his old man as he grew older. And he thought he had done pretty alright to keep himself far from going down the path of Will Dixon. He was angry still and he knew there was some sort of dark stain inside of him that father had passed onto son that he couldn't get rid of but besides that, Daryl thought no one could ever confuse him for his dad.

And then some stupid girl – some stupid and sweet and pretty girl with an asshole boyfriend who slapped her around – had the balls to look him in the face and tell him that he was just like that asshole boyfriend; was just like his dad.

God, she looked like his mom. Maybe that's why he got himself entangled with her in the first place. He hadn't been able to save his mom but he had been able to step in and save Beth. He was almost sorry he had. He never thought a girl deserved to get slapped around but Beth was definitely pushing him into thinking something different. And he thought he might hate her for getting him to think that.

Anne's eyes had been green. He remembered the way they were this lush color like a freshly mowed lawn in the summertime. They had been big, too, and Daryl used to hate that he had gotten his smaller eyes from Will. Got his nose from him, too, and his chin. Got too much from him and he couldn't think of much he had gotten from his mom. Merle had always called him the sweet one and teased him by calling him a mama's boy and Daryl knew he had been closer to Anne than Merle ever had been. By the time Daryl had come around, Merle was already getting sent away to juvie and it had been just Daryl and mom. By then, Anne was deep in her wine but she still was sometimes sober enough to love Daryl and be a good mom to him. She talked to him about birds or read him stories and she always quickly told him to go and hide when Will came in through the door, pissed off. And he remembered how green her eyes had been but also how they were always wet with tears, making the green almost look as if it was sparkling.

He thought of Beth's eyes. Hers were blue and he had already thought of what blue. The kind of dark blue seen right before the sun rose each morning. And her skin was white and soft looking and her hair was long and blonde and most times, Daryl didn't even look at girls like her because he didn't think, for one second, that he had any right to look at them.

Anne's hair had been blonde and she had been small like Beth was and whenever she smiled – which got to be rarer and rarer in the later days – Daryl swore that his mom was the prettiest woman in the world. But Anne had thought herself to be in love and never left her husband and he might not have beaten her to death but he had killed her all the same.

And Daryl had no problem imagining the same kind of thing for Beth. She'd go back to Zach or find someone else who pushed her around and someday, he'd just beat that sweetness and prettiness right out of her until she was nothing more than a pile of ash.

Daryl sat up and dug the heels of his hands into his eyes. He had no idea why he cared so much or why it bothered him or why he couldn't get her out of his head.

He sighed, exhaling a thick stream of smoke, and stood up, going to pour the now cold cup of coffee down the drain in the kitchen sink. He glanced towards the window where he had put the bird feeder and he saw the birds flapping around, chirping and fluttering and eating the sunflower seeds and cracked corn from within the plastic casing.

 _If an average man had a metabolism comparable to that of a hummingbird, he would have to eat 285 pounds of hamburger every day to maintain his weight,_ he heard his mom's voice tell him as she read from a calendar she had hanging in the kitchen – a different bird each month with facts about that bird listed beneath. Hummingbirds had always been her favorite and suddenly, Daryl wanted to go to the hardware store again and look for a hummingbird feeder.

The cigarette dangled on his bottom lip as he washed his coffee cup and put it in the drying rack beside the sink. He glanced at the clock. He still had a few more hours until his shift and he wondered if he had anything in here he could eat for dinner. He was pretty sure he had a couple of rabbits cleaned and frozen in the freezer but he doubted he had enough time to defrost one in time to do much with it before he had to head to the warehouse.

He hated even the thought of it but looking through his refrigerator and cabinets, he didn't see much of anything and he had to eat something before going to work that evening. He opened the drawer in his kitchen that was filled with paper menus that Carol had given him when he had first moved in. He pulled one out for Rhee's Pizza and called in an order. He told himself he didn't have to spend money on pizza like this but he also told himself that it was really the only thing that could be done right now.

He was given the total by the guy over the phone and told him it'd be there in thirty or minutes or less once Daryl had given his address. He stubbed out one cigarette and then pulling another one out of the pack he had tossed onto the counter. This time, he went to another window in his living room and opening it up, he sat down on the ledge and lit the cigarette before exhaling outside. It was a cool day with an obvious dampness in the air and Daryl could smell the rain approaching. When he had gotten the apartment, it came with a little garage in back and he'd have to put his bike away and drive his truck that night.

There was a knock on the door and Daryl looked to the clock on the microwave. Twenty minutes. He was still sitting on the window ledge and he pulled himself up, crossing the small space to unlock and open the door.

He frowned within an instant. "What the fuck you doin' here?" He asked and he knew he was scowling down at the little blonde but he didn't get himself to stop. This girl deserved to have him scowling at her after what she said to him.

Beth, to her credit, didn't seem to mind or even really notice. She held a white pizza box in her hands and smiled up at him, looking a little hesitant to do so but not getting herself to stop. She held up the pizza.

"Your order," she informed him.

"You work at the pizza place, too?" Daryl asked, taking the pizza box from her and thrusting the twenty dollar bill in her hand.

"I've been looking for you all morning," she said. "I just have had no idea where to even start. It's not a big town but I don't even know your last name. And Glenn Rhee is my brother-in-law and I just so happened to be there when he got the order. I know you're not the only Daryl in the world but I just knew this was you."

Daryl stared at her and said nothing. He didn't doubt if she wasn't able to hear how fast and loud his heart was pounding in his chest. What the hell did this girl do to him? Nothing that he wanted to have done. He didn't want this girl anywhere near him.

"I'm sorry," Beth then quickly said as he blinked at her as if he had never heard those words before. Truth was, he couldn't remember the last time someone said them to him. "I can't tell you how sorry I am and I can't tell you enough times how sorry I am. What I said was completely out of line and so horrible of me and you are _nothing_ like Zach. Someone who had come and defended me like you had, you don't have a bad bone in your body."

Daryl almost snorted at that. Of course he did. He was a Dixon.

"And I got you something," Beth said, reaching into the messenger bag slung across her chest and hanging at her side. "There's an old used bookstore in town. It's one of my favorite places in the world. Anyway, I was there and saw something and I thought you might like it…"

The book was hard with a light blue cover and there were colored illustrations of birds on the front of it. _Birds of North America_. Beth held it up and he stared at it. He didn't say anything. He just stared at the book for a moment and then looked at her. When the hell was the last time someone gave him a present? And a present that would actually mean something to him? This girl didn't even know him and already, just with this book, she had just done more for him than most people had in his entire life.

Maybe she wasn't like Anne Dixon. Maybe she really was like Grandma Liv.

The longer the silence stretched between them, her smile began to fall a little bit at a time.

She cleared her throat and shifted on her feet as if uncomfortable. "Here," she gently placed the book on top of the pizza box. "I'm sorry, Daryl. And here…" she reached into her bag and pulled out the green plastic cd case with the Robert Johnson cd inside. "I really do think you'll like him." She placed the cd on top of the book. "Maybe I'll see you at the doughnut shop sometime," she said and gave him a small smile before turning back towards the stairs, ready to leave.

And Daryl had absolutely no idea what he was doing. Maybe he was drunk though there was no way he could be. He hadn't touched booze in years. But he saw her turn and he suddenly didn't like seeing her backside so much.

"You got class you gotta get to?" He heard himself ask her.

Beth slowly turned back towards him. She shook her head. "I had a class this morning and then I have class again this evening. It's my one night class."

"You hungry?"

Beth blinked at him for a moment as if she couldn't quite believe it and he didn't blame her because he couldn't really believe it either. She looked at him as if she was waiting for him to tell the punch line to the joke he was obviously pulling on her and he almost told her to just forget it and close the door behind him.

"I could eat," Beth said before he could though.

"Come on then," he said and with that, he turned and walked back into his apartment, leaving the door open for her behind him.

He took the book and case, setting them aside, and he dropped the pizza box on the counter before going to get some paper towels. He saw Beth slowly walk into the apartment and close the door behind her and he wondered what his place looked like through her eyes.

Not that there was much to look at. He hardly had any furniture. Just a couch and scratched coffee table and a stand with his television on it. In his bedroom, he just had a double bed and one nightstand table beside it and a worn dresser of drawers. Nothing else. He didn't really need that much though. It was just him and if he wasn't sleeping, he was working and he wasn't the sort to spend his money on stuff like that. Besides, it was just him. He could only sit on one piece of furniture at a time.

Even though it was small with hardly anything in it, it was still a nice place. Definitely the nicest place Daryl had ever lived in. The walls were painted a clean white, the floors were a polished hardwood and there were plenty of windows for the sunlight to pour through.

"Do you want me to take my shoes off?" Beth asked and Daryl couldn't help but snort.

"Nah," he shook his head, smirking a little to himself, glancing at her as she looked around.

He flipped the lid back, revealing the pizza. He had gotten himself a large so he would have leftovers and he figured that even with Beth there, he would still have leftovers. He didn't really think this was a girl who ate like a horse. He chose a slice of the sausage, green pepper and mushroom and took a bite, leaning against the counter, his eyes never leaving Beth. Watching her. Studying her. Wondering what she thought – as if it mattered to him what she thought even though he really could have cared less.

Her eyes fell on the window with the birdfeeder and it was as if she couldn't help but hurry towards it. "Oh, they love it!" She smiled happily as she watched them flying around.

He nodded, chewing and swallowing before speaking. "Been out there all mornin'," he said and then Beth turned, flashing him a smile, and he felt himself pause in taking another bite of pizza at the sight of it.

Girl was as bright as the damn sun shining through the windows. Daryl forced himself to lower his eyes and he took another bite of pizza, feeling the back of his neck flush. Maybe inviting her in was a bad idea. He swore he could smell her past the lingering cigarette smoke and the aroma from the pizza and he wondered how long it would take him to air the whole place out of everything.

Beth looked away from the window and took another look around the place. She then looked to Daryl, her brow furrowed. "Do you have anything to play the cd on?" She asked.

Daryl shrugged and grabbed another piece of pizza. "'ll figure somethin' out," he said.

Beth came to the counter and Daryl extended a paper towel for her to take. She smiled her thanks at him and she then took one of the corner pieces. He watched as she took a small bite, immediately wiping her mouth afterwards.

"You can sit down if you wan'. Jus' got the couch," Daryl said and she smiled at him again.

He wanted to ask why she was always smiling all the damn time at him. He was pretty sure he had done nothing but scowl at her – and with good reason. But it seemed as if it never seemed to bother her. It just seemed like the more he scowled, the more she smiled.

"You are the most handsome boy. I'm always afraid to take you shopping because I think someone is just going to snatch you right up away from me," Grandma Liv said as she playfully rubbed her nose against his.

"Grandma," Daryl whined, trying to pull himself away but Grandma Liv just laughed and kissed him, pulling him into her arms.

He watched as Beth took her piece of pizza and sat down on the couch. It was just a worn brown three-cushion couch he had picked up at a Salvation Army store. It was comfortable enough and it didn't smell like piss so Daryl thought it had been a pretty good purchase. But watching Beth sit on it, he was almost embarrassed by it. And it pissed him off that this girl could make him feel like anything in his own place wasn't good enough.

"You frown a lot," Beth noted, breaking through his thoughts. She was perched on the edge of the couch, eating her pizza slice and looking at him with her own smile.

Daryl shrugged, grabbing another slice. "Nothin' to smile 'bout," he said.

"Well, that can't be true," she said. "You have a beautiful apartment, there are birds chirping right outside your window and you have pizza. Seems like things are pretty good right now if you ask me." She kept smiling at him and Daryl tried to keep himself frowning because she was wrong. What the hell did he have to smile about?

Beth sat there on his shitty couch, eating pizza and smiling at him, and Daryl moved his eyes to the floor. He couldn't look at her. Because even with her swollen lip like his mom, she had brought him a gift that she had gone and found something that reminded her of him and she had apologized – more than once and seemed to mean it and she had the prettiest smile he had ever seen. And her smile just made him want to smile, too.

…

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 **Thank you so much for reading and please** **review!**


	6. Toasted Coconut

**With so many stories in the works right now, this is the one that I'm most excited for. I really love writing these particular two versions of the characters and I especially love Daryl's backstory. This is the story I'm going to be focusing on right now. Unfortunately, each chapter takes me some time so I will no longer be able to update every day like I have been able to with other stories. Please be patient with me!  
**

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…

 **Chapter Six.** Toasted Coconut.

"Bye, Beth!"

Beth turned and waved to her classmate, Amy, doing her best to smile. "Good night!" She called back and headed down the stairs of the building and down the paved path that led off campus.

She did her best not to cry. She sometimes really hated her education class but she had to take it – and pass – if she wanted to continue on with her education degree. And she did, didn't she? She had always imagined herself being a music teacher in an elementary or middle school, teaching kids to love music as much as she loved it. But this class was always the hardest for her to get through.

 _If two of your students were fighting, would you break it up?_ Yes, of course. _No, Beth. You cannot just step in and separate them. You have to go and get another teacher to assist you and so you have a witness if anything happens._

 _If you catch two students in a lewd act, how do you handle it?_ Lewd act? I plan on teaching ten and eleven year olds. _Yes, Beth, but you'd be surprised how quickly kids age nowadays. I once caught a twelve-year-old girl giving a boy a hand job right at the cafeteria table._

And Beth had felt her eyes well with tears at just the image of that. There was something about such young kids experimenting with sex that made her feel heavy inside. She hated the idea of kids growing up so quickly and it was as if they didn't even have a childhood anymore. Beth thought of herself when she was ten and eleven and she had known of sex but none of the details and she certainly had never thought of having it for herself at that age. All she did was play piano, ride her horse and play with her Fisher Price dollhouse.

She wasn't that old. Twenty-two but she still had the urge sometimes to go into a toy store and look around and perhaps indulge herself in something. She was so thankful she had had a childhood she could look back on fondly and smile. She couldn't imagine what it was like, being so young and doing such things. It just filled her with a sadness that kids these days really didn't seem like they were kids at all.

As she neared the parking lot, Beth saw an old light blue pickup truck sitting at the end of the sidewalk and as she neared it, the driver's side door opened and she nearly stopped walking in her tracks once she saw who it was. For the first time that evening, she found herself genuinely smiling and she felt her heart begin to race just a little bit faster in her chest. She hoped it wasn't obvious that she was hurrying towards him now though she didn't know why she wouldn't want him to see her do that.

She was honestly happy to see him.

"Hi," she smiled, feeling breathless, as she got close enough to him. "What are you doing here?" She then couldn't help but ask.

"'membered you sayin' what time your class got out and I had a fifteen minute break. Figured I'd come and drive you back so you don' walk back in the dark," Daryl said as if this was all self-explanatory.

Beth kept smiling. "I live just a couple of blocks away," she said even though she certainly didn't mind him showing up here to give her a ride. If anything, it just let her think that maybe he had completely forgiven her for her horribly rude and cruel comment from this morning. She couldn't be sure. Daryl made it very hard for a person to clearly read him.

"'s goin' to start rainin' again and it's dark. You don't need to get soaked," Daryl informed her, frowning as he did.

Beth tilted her head up towards the dark sky. It was nighttime now but even if it wasn't, the low-hanging dark clouds would make a person think it was. It had been raining on and off all day and there was a lull for the moment.

She looked back to Daryl and she smiled warmly at him again as he looked at her. He was doing something so sweet and she knew that he didn't even really know he was. And if she was to point it out to him, she knew he would probably just scowl at her. He seemed to scowl at her more than anything but she knew – and she still barely knew him she would admit – that he would someday smile and she would be the reason he smiled.

Beth was determined of it.

"Thank you, Daryl," she said.

He didn't make a move towards the driver's side of the truck though and kept looking at her. "Everythin' a'right?" He asked.

"Of course," Beth said and gave another smile though it wasn't the truth but she didn't need to tell him that.

She was probably just overreacting anyway. She didn't feel like she was but she knew if she was to confide in anyone else about her education class, they would say she was and Beth would feel pressured to agree with them that she probably was. After every one of her education classes, she would be feeling down and Zach would tell her she was making a big deal out of nothing. It was his way of comforting her. She didn't want to compare Daryl and Zach at all anymore but she figured that Daryl would probably say the same thing.

Daryl walked around to the driver's side of the truck and Beth waited until he got in before she climbed into the passenger's side. It was an old truck with a single bench seat. It smelled like lingering cigarette smoke and fresh dirt from the earth. Beth stopped herself before she could take a deep whiff of the air in the cab. She couldn't help but look around and see how clean the truck was. It didn't surprise her. His apartment had been spotless, as well, and he seemed to own very few earthly possessions.

As she expected it would, the ride to her apartment took less than a minute and it seemed as soon as he had shifted into drive, he was shifting gears into park again up at the curb outside of the hair salon. Neither of them had spoken a word during the short time and she knew that that was strange of her. She was always filling silences with her chatter but after class tonight, she didn't feel like talking that much. Not even to this man she couldn't get out of her head no matter how hard she tried. She knew she wasn't trying that hard though.

She looked to him and saw him open his mouth to speak.

"Please," she quickly cut him off before he could. He blinked at her. "I don't want to get into another argument. I know I shouldn't walk home alone at night like this no matter how close I live or how small the town is."

Daryl looked at her and didn't say anything, his mouth closing. She gave him a small smile and her fingers curled around the door handle, preparing herself to leave.

She wanted to lean over and brush aside the hair hanging in his eyes. She wondered if it ever annoyed him. She had never thought herself to like long hair on a boy but Daryl definitely wasn't a boy and somehow, the longer hair seemed to work for him. It wasn't as if it was overly long. It just seemed as if he had gone quite some time without a cut. She couldn't imagine him with short hair though.

Beth thought of the way he had punched Zach and had knocked Zach right to the ground. Daryl was definitely a man and Beth realized she had never really been around one before – not like this. There was Glenn, yes, her sister's husband and her older brother, Shawn, but she had never looked at either of them and thought they were men. They were just two more boys in her life. There had been Jimmy, her high school boyfriend but they broke up after graduation, both going to different colleges and not stupid or naïve enough to think that they were in love and would be together forever. They were still friends though and always made sure to see one another when both were back home for breaks and Jimmy still had his baby face and even when he didn't anymore, Beth would never consider him a man.

And Zach definitely wasn't a man. What kind of man slapped around his girlfriend around?

She thought of what she had accused Daryl of that morning and even though she had apologized and he didn't seem angry with her anymore, she still felt incredibly guilty because just by looking at him, Beth knew that Daryl would never be the sort of man to use his size to his advantage and bestow violence on those around him.

But Daryl, with his arm muscles and long hair and permanent scowl and the faint hint of lingering cigarette smoke and his motorcycle, he was what she imagined a man to very much be like.

Beth wasn't entirely sure where the courage came from. All she knew was one second, she was ready to get out of the truck and he was staring at her with those intense dark eyes of his and the next, she was leaning across the bench seat and her lips pressed to his cheek. She heard him suck in a sharp breath and he was completely still and she pulled back.

She gave him a soft smile. "Good night, Daryl," she said and she slipped out of the truck before he could say anything; not that she expected him to say a word.

She slung her messenger bag onto her shoulder and she didn't look back as she unlocked the door that led up to the second floor and then disappeared up the stairs, faintly hearing the pickup truck driving away. She smiled to herself as she mounted the stairs and her fingers lightly touched her lips, swearing that she could feel them tingling. His cheek had been rough and he had been warm and she knew she wouldn't mind kissing him again. And if she was feeling that brave again, maybe she'd go for his lips next time. And just thinking of his reaction to her doing that made her giggle.

…

Beth didn't go to the doughnut shop in the morning. She decided to sleep instead, needing it after having such a late practice the night before. She slept and woke up at nine the next morning to birds chirping outside her window. And she laid there for a few minutes, watching the white puffs of clouds lazily cross the sky and listening to the birds and she found herself thinking of Daryl, which was becoming the norm.

He didn't live that far from her and she wondered if he could hear the same birds singing. She had seen his face when she had showed him the book she had bought for him and the way he had flipped through it once they were finished eating pizza and he had washed his hands so not to get any lingering grease on the pages. He looked as if he had never received a better gift before in his life. She wondered what it was that he loved about birds so much because even though he hadn't come out and said that he loved birds, it was apparent. They obviously had some special meaning but Beth knew that if she asked, he wouldn't answer. She knew he wouldn't answer so many of the questions she had for him.

She wanted to know him; know everything about him. And she wished she could understand why but she didn't. She didn't even know him. It hadn't even been a week since she saw him for the first time. She hadn't even known he existed a week ago. She still didn't even know his last name and she tried to wonder why she seemed so intent on knowing him. She knew the answer, of course, and it wasn't just because he had punched Zach.

Beth rolled onto her side, turning towards the window, and she rolled into a ball beneath the blankets, shivering slightly from the usual morning draftiness in her bedroom. She had to get up and get ready for her shift at the hardware store that morning but right now, she just wanted to be a warm little burrito for a little bit longer.

She should have known when she had student-taught last semester and more than one student had used the "f" word. Telling her to "f" off or saying that this was "f"-ing stupid. She had been shocked at their language and for a moment, hadn't been too sure what to do. She just had never expected kids that age to talk like that – especially in school to a teacher.

Beth had always wanted to be a teacher but now, she wasn't so sure. Taking these classes, she just didn't know if it was for her. She loved giving piano lessons to a few of the children in town and the half-hour she spent with each was always such a highlight of her week. But if she didn't graduate with a degree in education and become a music teacher at a school somewhere, what would she do with herself? She had never had a backup plan because she never thought she would ever need one.

She supposed she could keep giving piano lessons and working at the hardware store and she could always pick up another job but what then would she do? Would she do those things forever? She didn't know what she was meant to do but she knew it wasn't that. Her entire life had always been about music and she still wanted it to be. She just didn't know if music teacher was in the cards for her anymore.

Being so down after her education class should have been the only red flag she needed.

Beth finally pulled herself from bed with a reluctant sigh and hurried across the hall into the bathroom as if running from the cold and she took a long, hot shower, taking the time to shave her legs though it wasn't as if she had anyone in her life who would be seeing them.

And just like that, her mind was back on Daryl.

She wondered when she would see him again. Maybe she could go to the doughnut shop tomorrow morning and sit with him. Or maybe she could show up at his apartment after her shift that morning and before her composition class that afternoon. She could just imagine the scowl he would have when he opened the door to see her standing there once again. Now that she knew where he lived, she wondered if he expected her all the time – whether he wanted her to come around or not. And it was obvious he didn't want her to.

It wasn't as if she wanted to annoy him but she knew that if she wasn't the one making an effort to see him, she would never see him again because it wasn't as if he would go out of his way to see her. There had been last night, yes, and him giving her a ride home but that was just because he thought she was an idiot who didn't care for her own safety and he didn't want her to get kidnapped or murdered and that was very sweet of him. But that still didn't mean anything and it was clear he wanted absolutely nothing to do with her.

And realizing that, finally admitting to herself what she hadn't wanted to, Beth felt a heaviness in her chest all over again.

She knew she was pretty. She saw no reason to deny that when it was the truth and she was nice and friendly and so many people liked her. She knew, though, that it wasn't as if everyone _had_ to like her and it seemed as if Daryl – seriously, what was his last name? – was one of those who didn't care for her at all. She always seemed to rub him the wrong way even though she couldn't remember doing anything exactly to him that would piss him off so much. Yes, she had said a cruel thing to him in regards to Zach but she had apologized – and apologized again and again – and he had seemed to get past it.

But even before that, he hadn't seemed to like her at all and she didn't know why.

Once out of the shower, she dried herself off and got herself dressed before drying her hair and pulling it up into a ponytail like she usually wore it when she had to work at the store. Before leaving the bedroom, she made the bed and then grabbed a hooded cardigan sweater to wear, still shivering a little from the cold temperature in her apartment. Even with the heat on, the rooms were always so cold and she wondered if she had a ghost living there with her.

In the kitchen, she poured herself a bowl of Cheerios and made herself a small pot of coffee, not able to function in the mornings without it and she sat cross-legged on her couch as she ate and waited as the heavenly scent of brewing coffee began hanging in the air.

She sat and chewed and listened to the birds chirping and remembered that she had to get something for Daryl to play the Robert Johnson cd. Maybe she could go visit her daddy later that week and get an old cd player from her bedroom and give to him. If he had a cd player, there were many more cds she could give him to listen to. She loved sharing music and she didn't know what Daryl preferred but she loved introducing people to new types of music.

Maybe if she didn't teach, she could open a music store.

A sudden knock on the door startled her and she stared at it for a moment as if she was able to see through it to see who it was. She tried to think of who would be coming by this early to come and see her. She stood up and left her cereal bowl on the coffee table. For one second, her heart began to flutter because maybe it was Daryl.

She hesitantly went to the door and peeked through the peephole and when she saw who it was, her heart sank a little and she tried not to sigh with disappointment. Of course it wouldn't be Daryl. Why had she even allowed herself to think that it might be?

Unlocking the two locks on her door, she opened it and frowned immediately.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest – both protectively and beginning to feel pissed off that he would have the guts to show up here.

Zach held up a plastic clear cup in his hand. "I brought you some coffee."

"No, thanks. I'm already brewing some," she said and didn't budge from the doorway. She couldn't help but look at his black eye and it looked painful and she _almost_ felt bad for him but the she reminded herself what he had done to get that black eye and her lip began to throb as steady as another heartbeat.

"It's a mocha Frappuccino. Your favorite," he said, still holding it out for her to take.

Damn him.

Reluctantly, she reached out and took it from him, immediately taking a sip through the green straw. "Thanks," she said quietly.

"I figured you needed it. I know what your Wednesday class does to you," he said.

Beth nodded but didn't say anything. He knew so much about her and why shouldn't he? They had dated long enough and she had thought, at a time, that he had actually been the one. She had actually imagined marrying him and having kids and the house and the whole nine yards with him. Just because they were broken up didn't mean that they didn't know one another anymore. And she knew that he could be so considerate when he wanted to be.

She exhaled a sigh. She was going to regret this but she was still feeling sad that morning after class last night and he had brought her coffee.

"Would you like to come in?" She asked.

His smile was instant – small and hesitant – but still there and he nodded. She took a step back and let him enter the apartment and she closed the door behind them both.

 _You'll be back with 'im by the end of the week._

Daryl's words echoed in her head and she pushed them to the very back of her mind. She wasn't getting back together with Zach. She had just invited him in. That didn't automatically mean that they were going to reconcile. She just needed someone to talk to and try to sort her thoughts out and Zach knew her and right now, Zach was all she had.

She had other friends but they were all in the same program and they didn't seem to have any double guesses about being a teacher. She had her sister and brother and her daddy but she couldn't imagine them understanding either. If she thought this and felt this way, why had she gone through four years of college to earn her education degree?

And she definitely didn't have Daryl. He wasn't even an option and never had been.

There only seemed to be Zach right now and though he had proved in the past that he didn't understand, he was here this morning and he was someone to talk to and she really needed to talk. Maybe if she spoke all of her running wild thoughts out loud to someone, it would make more sense to her and maybe Zach could help her come to a conclusion or offer her some advice.

They weren't getting back together. Definitely not. She was not going to be one of those girls who kept dating a guy after they hit them. She was stronger than that.

She watched Zach slowly sit down on the couch as if he wasn't sure if he should be doing that and he looked at her and gave her a small smile and Beth took another sip of her Frappuccino and smiled slowly at him in return. She suddenly was feeling shy for some reason; as it had been between them when they had first started dating and were unsure about so many things.

Beth came and sat down on the couch beside him – making sure she wasn't too close to him – and they smiled at one another again. She looked at his black eye again. Maybe getting punched in the face had changed him though. Maybe that black eye had woken him up and he realized how wrong he had been in treating her like he had. Maybe he was different now. Maybe Daryl had helped change him.

She thought of Daryl once more. She liked him. A lot. She didn't even know him but she knew she liked him and she wanted to get to know him. But he obviously wasn't interested in anything about her and if he never saw her again, he would probably be just fine with that; never thinking about her again.

And she looked at Zach sitting beside her and he was there and ready to listen and clearly wanting to be around her that morning and Beth hated herself for feeling so vulnerable right now but this morning, what Zach was offering to her was exactly what she needed. And it wasn't as if she was one of those girls who _had_ to be with someone but she couldn't help but admit to herself that having him there, it was almost kind of nice.

…

* * *

 **Thank you so much for reading and please review! And I imagine that Beth is going to be attacked by some of you in the comments. Just please remember that being part of an abusive relationship is never as simple as black and white.  
**

 ***what Beth is going through is exactly what my sister went through. She was studying to be a music teacher but realized it wasn't for her when she went through a couple of her education classes and decided to get out of it.**


	7. Apple Cinnamon

…

 **Chapter Seven.** Apple Cinnamon.

The warehouse was closed on weekends so Daryl had the normal Saturday and Sunday off like most people and on this weekend, he was planning on spending at least half of it in the woods. He had always felt more comfortable in the woods than any other place – except for maybe his Grandma Liv's house but he hadn't been to her house in over three decades and there was no Grandma Liv's house anymore but there was always the woods. The small town was surrounded with woods and when he had first moved here, Daryl had made sure that he found himself knowing his way around them and memorizing his surroundings.

Daryl figured he would go there for at least a night and get enough meat to restock his freezer. He really just had to get away for a little bit and the woods always cleared his head. He didn't know why he would have to clear his head but even as he wondered that, he knew what the answer was. Beth. He didn't even know her last name and he couldn't get her from his mind. And he hated himself a little for that.

He didn't know why he had gone to drive her home from her class that night. When she had been over at his place, sitting there on his couch and taking small bites of her slice of pizza, and she had been talking. About everything and nothing at all. So much damn talking but Daryl hadn't told her to shut up and he hadn't tuned her out. Instead, he found himself looking at her and listening to every word she said. He listened as she talked about her classes and her music and she mentioned that her class that night – her one night class of the week – got out at eight and Daryl could just imagine her walking home by herself in the dark.

And when he had been working, he couldn't stop himself from looking at the clock every few minutes, watching as it got closer and closer to eight. He admitted that he hated the idea of her walking home alone at night because he knew nothing about her but he knew enough to know that she would do something stupid like that. He got breaks throughout his shift and he told Oscar, the other guy who worked the nightshift in the warehouse with him, that he was taking a fifteen minute one and he'd be right back.

Something hadn't been right with her that night. He didn't know what it was though and when he asked, she had given him a smile and told him that of course everything was fine. The smile had been fake though and Daryl had been able to see that immediately. He knew what a woman looked like when her smile wasn't real. But he didn't press because it wasn't any of his business and he told himself that he didn't really care. Why should he? She was just some girl he didn't even know and it didn't have anything to do with him whether she was fine or not.

And he was pissed that it was as if he had to remind himself of that.

As he stood in the tiny front hallway, grabbing his jacket from the closet, there was a knock on the door and he wasn't exactly surprised to open it up and see her of every person in this world standing there.

"Hi," she smiled at him and the smile was small and unsure and didn't really reach her eyes and Daryl had seen that smile too many times in his life.

"Need somethin'?" He grunted to her and he knew that she wouldn't be able to tell that he was relieved to see her because he made damn sure he didn't show that on his face. When she hadn't come by the doughnut shop, he ate his doughnut and coffee and couldn't help but wonder where the hell she was or if something had happened to her and he didn't know how he would hear about it if it did.

"Oh, you're going out," she said, seeing him putting on his jacket and her smile fell a little though he could see that she was trying to keep it in place. "I'm sorry for bothering you. I'll just see you at the doughnut shop," she said and she turned to walk away.

"Wait," Daryl said without stopping to think it through. "Lemme see your shoes."

Beth had already stepped down from the top step but she turned, her brow furrowed with confusion and curiosity at his question. She stepped back onto the landing and he saw that she was wearing brown boots pulled over her jeans. He then looked over the rest of her outfit. A tee-shirt and a plaid shirt under a light-weight hoodie and a jacket. She'd probably be warm enough.

He didn't say anything. Daryl took his crossbow which was leaning against the wall and slung it across his chest, putting it on his back. He then went to the refrigerator and grabbed two bottles of water from inside. When he came out, he handed them to Beth without a word and then closed and locked the door behind him.

"Where are we going?" She asked as he moved past her and started heading down the stairs and he heard her following behind.

"Huntin' and sleepin' out," he said.

"Outside?" She said as if she didn't understand the word and he almost smirked. "Do we need a tent or something?"

He didn't say anything. He didn't have a tent. He never had. He had never used one before. When he was out in the woods, he slept on the ground but he realized that he couldn't have Beth do the same thing.

His truck was parked on the curb and he opened up the driver's side door, reaching under the bench seat. He pulled out a blanket he kept there for emergencies and after shaking it out, he turned and offered it out for her to take.

This time, the smile she gave him was completely genuine; the kind of smile he was used to getting from Beth and as soon as he saw it, Daryl was quick to look away again. It was good to see her smile but he didn't really want to see it. He didn't know what the hell to do around that smile.

She put the bottles of water into the messenger bag that she always seemed to have and then she hugged the blanket to her chest tightly as if she had never seen a more delicate or luxurious blanket before.

He started walking and Beth fell into step beside him. Neither of them spoke and Daryl found himself glancing over to her more than once. She was quiet in a way he wasn't used to from her. In the week since he had seen her for the first time, he had never thought her to be the quiet kind. She seemed to always be making some sort of noise but right now, she walked beside him, quiet as if lost completely to her thoughts. It wasn't as if Daryl cared. If anyone loved the quiet, it was him. It just seemed like him to be a little unnatural to have Beth be quiet like him.

At the edge of the woods, he stopped and she stopped as well. It was still light out but it wouldn't be for soon and he pulled a small flashlight out of his pocket. He would be sure to get their fire set up before it was completely dark but in the meantime, he would give this to Beth just in case.

"Here," he held the flashlight out for her to take.

Beth looked at it as if she had never seen a flashlight before and she slowly took it from him after a moment. And then, she promptly burst into tears.

Daryl stared at her, wondering what the hell was going on, and his entire body stiffened as she rushed to him, practically slamming into his chest. She shifted the blanket and flashlight to one hand and her other free arm slipped around his waist as if this was all so damn natural and she began sobbing against his chest. He had no idea what to do so he stood there as still as a stone, listening as she wept.

"I'm sorry," she gasped, trying to catch her breath and to get herself to stop crying but she couldn't seem to be able to and it was as if the harder she tried to calm herself down, the harder she continued to cry. "I'm sorry, "she said again and her apologies finally gave Daryl a reaction. It made him frown fiercely.

He could remember his mom crying and telling Will that she was sorry even though he had been the one who had made her cry; had given her the pain that had made her cry in the first place. That son of a bitch had never deserved anyone to ever ask for his forgiveness for anything because he was the one who had spread nothing but misery in his life and if there was any justice in the world, he was rotting in hell.

Beth pulled herself away from him but she seemed to do it with reluctance as if she really didn't want to do it. She took a step back and sniffled and wiped at her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," she said again. "It's just been a really terrible week."

Daryl stared at her. He hadn't thought of that but he supposed it had been. Just a week ago, her life had been comfortable and cushy and then her boyfriend had gone and slapped her and it had probably changed everything in her life in that instant.

"Zach came to see me yesterday morning," she said and he stiffened as soon as he heard that prick's name.

His eyes began to rove over her body on the lookout for a fresh bruise.

She sniffled again. "I didn't want him to be there but he was and I really needed someone to talk to and Zach knows me and I thought, once upon a time, that he was the one and I know I can't be with him anymore. I _don't_ want to be with him. I just had so many thoughts in my head that I needed to talk with to someone and you were right about me. I'm just weak and pathetic."

Daryl felt his throat lump and he forced himself to swallow and to take a moment before speaking. He was never the sort to speak quickly and say the first thing that cam into his mind but for once, looking at her, he stared at her and made himself wait. The tears had stopped streaming down her cheeks but they were still glistening and her eyes were still watery and she kept sniffling every few seconds.

He pulled a red rag from his back pocket and held it out for her to take.

"Thank you," she said softly and took the bandana, turning herself away so he wouldn't see her blow her nose; as if it would disgust him or something.

She then looked back at him, her big blue eyes looking up at him as if she was waiting for him to fix everything and to tell her that it would all be okay again. And how the hell could he tell her that? He didn't know. It wasn't up to him to make everything okay. Beth wasn't his responsibility. She was just a girl he had seen at a doughnut shop one morning. She wasn't anything more than that.

Daryl wondered why he had to say that in his mind more than once.

When she had given him that bird book, he had thought of Grandma Liv. And sometimes, when she smiled or said something that made herself laugh, she would look just like the woman he remembered with faded freckled and warm brown eyes.

But now, Beth was back to reminding him of his mom. With the tears in her eyes and the redness in her face and the way she bit down on her lower lip to keep it from trembling. The way she had apologized for crying as if she had done something terribly wrong and he would yell at her for it. At just the idea of her letting that asshole back anywhere near her.

And that was the part that twisted in his gut. He had predicted it. He had said that she would be back with that asshole by the end of the week and yet, even though he knew that it would probably happen, he still couldn't help but feel so damn disappointed with her doing exactly what he had known she would do. Because that's what women like her and his mom did. They got slapped around and went right back to the man despite that. They were good and kind and pretty and something inside of their twisted minds told them that that was the best they could do and that they would rather be with the guy than be alone.

He used to get so pissed at his mom. He sometimes went to the ER with her and sat there silently as the doctor stitched her up or gave her yet another cast or sling and he would listen to the endless excuses she would give him. Fell down the stairs this time. Silly Daryl left his toy cars out and I wasn't looking where I was walking and I slipped. Fender bender. And the worst one was when she finally had said that yes, Will had given her the bruises on her face _but_ he didn't mean to hit her. He had been watching a baseball game on television and had gotten so excited and she had been standing too close to him and he hadn't been looking when he had thrown his fists up in the air in celebration of a home run.

Little Daryl had stared at her every time she came up with a new excuse that every doctor and nurse were able to see through in just a second and he never understood why she just didn't say the truth. Why she stayed with the asshole and why she ignored Grandma Liv when she pled and cried with her daughter to leave him.

Daryl sometimes would lie in bed and imagine what it would be like if they did just leave Will Dixon one day and go off and start a whole new _safe_ life away from him. Will probably wouldn't even care if they left him. Daryl imagined that they would go and live with Grandma Liv and his mom wasn't skilled to do much of anything so maybe she would be a waitress or a secretary in some office. And they would have dinners and breakfasts and he would go to school and she would go to work and they would never cry again and his mom would never be bruised or broken again.

It would be the life Anne and him deserved. But it never happened because Anne had never left Will Dixon because for some reason, she couldn't stop being in love with him and she had paid for that love at every turn in her life.

And now, Beth was just like Anne. Maybe not right now. But one slap would lead to another and that slap would lead to a punch or a kick and that would be it. He'd get a hold of her and she would never leave and she would be just another dead girl. A pretty girl who had had probably so much to give this world but never got the chance to before her life was gone.

But he looked to Beth and heard her words in his head again.

 _I know I can't be with him anymore. I don't want to be with him._

She had said words that his mom definitely had never said but he didn't know if he could believe them. And what did it matter whether he believed her or he didn't? She was no one to him just like he was no one to her.

But he really wasn't no one, was he? She showed up at his apartment, clearly wanting to see him. She sat with him at the doughnut shop and gave him a CD. And she wasn't really no one either. He took one of his breaks at work just to give her a ride. Daryl didn't do too much for anyone and yet, he had done that for her – for some damned odd reason he couldn't understand.

Daryl looked at her then. "Come on," he grunted and finally turned into the trees.

He could hear Beth walk behind her. She wasn't trained like he was. She didn't know the first thing about hunting and tracking and he knew with her loud footsteps, she was probably scaring away everything but he didn't turn around and tell her to walk any differently. He wasn't really hunting anything right now anyway. He wanted to get to his usual camp and set up a fire for her and make sure she was settled in before he went and hunted them down some dinner.

He had never been out in the woods with someone before except with Merle but Merle had never the patience for hunting. He was always too damn loud and impatient and didn't understand how Daryl could hunt a buck for hours, waiting for the perfect shot. So Merle stopped coming and the woods were a chance for Daryl to be alone – as if he wasn't alone enough times in his life.

But Beth was with him now and he had invited her and he had to make sure he took care of her enough to make sure she didn't completely hate the experience. Deep down, or maybe not so deep down, Daryl knew he didn't want her to hate doing this.

He had a spot he always stayed at when he was out here. A tiny clearing amongst the trees, beside a small creek. He stepped through the trees to the familiar ground and immediately went about getting work on the fire. He gathered some fresh sticks and dead leaves and added them to the small hole he had already dug and he then knelt down, flipping over his lighter. He felt Beth's eyes on him as she sat down on the ground across from him, taking the blanket and wrapping it around her shoulders. He put the flame to the kindle and then blew on it gently, feeding it oxygen and within minutes, he had a small fire that would soon grow into a good-size blaze.

"A'right," he said as he stood back up, hearing his knees crack. "You gonna be a'right here for a lil' bit? I'm gonna go get us somethin' to eat."

He expected Beth to panic or to ask him if she could go with him so she wouldn't be alone but instead, she just looked up at him and nodded and gave him a small smile.

"I'll be right here," she said as if promising him and he nearly felt his lips twitch in a smile in response but he quickly turned his had away before she would see it.

Daryl gave a head nod and without saying anything else or looking back to her, he disappeared through the trees again, swinging his crossbow in his hands. The light was fading but he caught onto the trail of a rabbit quickly and easily enough and he returned to Beth within a half hour with a dead brown rabbit swinging from his hand. He sat Beth sitting closer to the fire, now larger than when he had first started it and she had a spiral notebook open in her lap, her eyes reading over some notes.

She looked up when she heard him and she smiled as soon as their eyes met. She didn't look scared to be left alone in the darkening woods for a little bit. Instead, she looked pretty relaxed and Daryl was relieved at that. As she had said, it had been a pretty shitty week for her and he didn't mean to do something to her to make it worse. It was important to him, he realized.

He sat down on the ground across the fire from her and they both kept quiet – Beth reading whatever was in her notebook, probably from one of her classes – and Daryl took out his hunting knife hanging from the sheath on his hip, starting to butcher and clean their dinner. Once he got the meat roasting over the fire, he went to the creek and washed his knife off and then came to bury the inner organs in the other ground, not wanting the scent to attract some wild animal to come up on them.

He kept one eye on the meat so he didn't burn it and his other kept on Beth. She was wearing her hair in a braid that night, it brought forward to hang over her shoulder and Daryl admitted to himself – _allowed_ to admit to himself – that she really was pretty. By far the prettiest girl he had ever seen.

Beth must have sense his eyes on her because she lifted her head and looked at him, immediately meeting his eyes with her own. He expected himself to look away quickly to avoid looking at her as if scared but he didn't. He kept looking at her.

"What's your last name?" She suddenly asked him and he wondered where the hell the question had come from because it wasn't one he was definitely expecting.

He cleared his throat but his voice was still rough as he answered. "Dixon."

She smiled at that as if it was the best last name she had ever heard. "I'm Greene."

He gave his head a nod and looked back to the cooking rabbit. Beth Greene. He recited her name in his head. It seemed to fit her. As soon as he heard her full name, he thought it was the best possible name for her.

Once the meat was done, he took it from the flames and she got up to come sit down beside him. They shared the meat, each pulling pieces off from the stick he had cooked it on and they ate quietly.

"I haven't had rabbit since my mama," Beth said quietly once she swallowed the small bit she had been chewing. "She used to make this rabbit pot pie… it was always my favorite so she used to make it for me when I had done well on a test in school or had a piano recital that I had played my best at. It became a celebration whenever she made it."

Daryl didn't know anything about that. His mom had loved him but she had never been that sort of mom. The cookie baking and home cooking shit kind of mom. Maybe she had been. When she had first gotten married and Merle was a little kid but by the time he was around, they relied heavily on cans and frozen dinners.

"She died though. A few years back. Car accident. And I think if we were to have rabbit pot pie, it would just make me and my daddy sad all over again," she said.

Daryl took his time chewing on his piece of rabbit and once he swallowed, he looked to her. She was staring into the flames as if deep in thought and she probably was, thinking of her mama then.

"My mama died, too," he heard himself say before he could even realize it. There was one thing he never talked about. There were tons of things he didn't talk about but there was definitely one that he never gave voice to and that was about his mom.

Beth looked at him then and stayed quiet, clearly waiting for him to say something more but he didn't know if he would. He didn't even know why he had just now.

He stayed quiet and Beth pulled another piece of the rabbit, taking a small nibble.

"It never goes away," she said softly. "The pain. It's always there but after a while, you just learn to live with it because you know you have to. That's the saddest part though, don't you think? Not that they died but that you're still here and alive and you have to figure out how to keep living without them."

Daryl still didn't say anything because he didn't know what the hell to say. He did know though that what she had just said was probably one of the best things he had ever heard because it was absolutely true and it was exactly what he had been thinking for all of these years but had never been able to put into words himself.

He turned his head to see Beth looking at him and she was looking at him and neither said anything. He watched as she reached a hand out towards him, moving slowly, and he sat completely still as her fingers brushed hair away that was hanging in his eyes and he never looked away from her. He didn't flinch or move away from her. He couldn't remember the last time he had let someone touch him.

And why didn't he feel really surprised that he had just let Beth?

…

* * *

 **Thank you so much for reading and please comment. I think I'm going to be sticking to Daryl's POV for most of this story from now on. It's been pointed out to me by more than one reader that writing Beth isn't exactly my strong suit so I'm going to keep with Daryl for a while.**


	8. Honey Dip

…

 **Chapter Eight.** Honey Dip.

After telling Beth no less than five times that he didn't need the blanket, she finally seemed to believe him. After they ate and the sun was completely down and gone from the sky, there was nothing but the chirping of crickets and the gentle rushing of the creek water and a faint hooting of an owl.

"What's that?" Beth asked, tilting her head slightly to the side.

Daryl stopped whittling at the piece of wood in his hand with his knife and perked his ears to the sound she was questioning. "Bats," he said, hearing the familiar fluttering of wings taking off in flight, before putting his attention back to the wood. He felt a faint shudder rake through her body and then she had scooted a fraction closer to him, tightening the blanket around her. He glanced over to her, seeing her eyes, slightly wide, staring into the darkness. He almost smirked before catching himself and he shook his head. "Bats don't give a shit 'bout us. 'Bout seventy-percent of 'em eat insects. Natural pest control and all that. There's the little brown bat. A single one of those can eat up to a thousand mosquitoes in an hour if it wants to."

Beth's eyes were now on him, looking at him with open curiosity, and Daryl shifted as if uncomfortable and lowered his eyes back to the wood in his hand. "Well, I'm quite thankful to the little brown bat then. I didn't know any of that," she then said quietly after a few beats of silence.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Lots of people don't know that," he grunted his reply.

"How you do you?" She asked.

He didn't answer; just shook his head and kept whittling.

His mom had always loved birds and even though he had been trained to be a hunter, he had always loved animals. They were for food as well as his very survival but that didn't mean that he didn't like or respect them. His elementary school's library used to have this series of books – each one on a different animal – and sometimes, he would stay after school and sit in a corner, reading each one of them. His favorites had been about the wolves and the grizzly bears – two of North America's greatest predators – and he imagined seeing them for himself one day when he was older and could go out on his own.

He read their books again and again, learning everything he could about them. He read the others, too. He taught himself about elephants and hippos and camels and he read every bird book in the series so he could make his mama smile with things he had learned. He had always tried so hard to get his mama smiling about anything.

"My daddy's a vet and I don't think even he knows that," Beth commented.

Daryl remained quiet. He had already talked enough and he didn't feel like talking anymore at the moment.

"Thank you for bringing me out here," she said softly, swiftly changing the subject.

Daryl's movements paused and he gave his head a single nod, turning it back to look at her. "Figured you jus' needed to get away or somethin'," he said and the smile she gave him was soft and faint. "You gonna go to the cops and tell 'em about him?"

Her smile faded at the question. "Do you think I need to?" She asked and he blinked at her, hearing it in her tone.

She was genuinely wondering what he thought on the matter and his first reaction was a biting retort but he swallowed it down. She didn't deserve that from him. She was asking him an honest question so the least he could do was give her an honest answer. It wasn't like she had ever gone through something like this before.

It should be easy. A guy slugs you around, you call the cops on him. It should have been so damn obvious but it never was. For as much as his dad beat his mom around, she never once told anyone. Everyone knew. The neighbors. The cops who came to their front door knew but they couldn't do anything because Anne didn't want anything done. She didn't want to see anything happen to Will – as if he was someone who deserved Anne's kindness and protection.

He looked at Beth and wanted to ask why she even had to ask that question.

"You scared of him?" He asked in a low grunt as if he didn't even care what her answer would be but her possible answer made him hold his breath as he waited.

Beth paused for just a moment before she visibly swallowed and gave her head a single nod. She tightened the blanket around her shoulders. "I am," she said in a soft voice. "I don't even know when it happened. It was before he slapped me. I know that much. I just don't know exactly when I started being scared. I thought… I thought that I would maybe marry him one day," she said and then let out some sort of breathless laugh and soft sob all at once. She sniffled and wiped at her nose with her hand and looked at him, doing her best to give him a smile. "I don't know why I'm upset," she then confessed.

Daryl shrugged and lowered his eyes, his knife continuing to whittle again. "No one sayin' you can't be upset. I'd say it's pretty normal. A guy slapped you who you weren't expectin' to slap you."

Beth didn't say anything to that and was quiet as she stared into the flames of the fire. She pulled her messenger bag closer and pulled out one of the bottles of water. She offered it silently to him but Daryl shook his head and she twisted the cap off, taking a sip for herself.

He wasn't sure how late it was now. He couldn't see the moon through the branches and the clouds that night but his internal clock was letting him know that it was pretty late. He glanced over to Beth, almost to tell her that she should get some sleep, but he kept quiet. She was a grown woman. She could go to sleep or not go to sleep whenever she damn well pleased. He wasn't the boss of her. She was a person. She didn't have anyone who owned her and fuck anyone who thought they had any type of ownership over another person. People didn't own people.

Beth seemed to think for herself that it was pretty late because she shifted then and lowered herself to the ground. She laid down on her side, curled into a ball, lying on half of the blanket and the other half pulled over her.

Daryl looked at her. "You warm enough?" He asked.

"What would you do if I wasn't?" She asked and even though he couldn't see her face, he could still hear her smile.

 _Burn down this whole damn forest to get you a bigger fire_ , the answer came to him so suddenly and unexpectedly, the knife almost slipped in his hand and he nearly cut his hand. He had never had a thought like that before and it scared him, to be honest. He didn't know where the hell it had come from and what the hell did he do with having a thought like that about a girl he didn't even know?

A few minutes passed and he heard Beth's breathing slow and even out as she drifted off to sleep and Daryl kept whittling away at the hunk of wood he was working on. When he started, he wasn't sure what he was making but now, he knew and he wanted to get it done.

He had never met his Grandpa Chris but his Grandma Liv had thrown nothing of his away after his death and Daryl would look at the man's possessions whenever he was over at the house. The man had been into woodwork. He had made Grandma Liv a rocking chair that she sat in every night on the front porch to watch the sun set. He always liked to carve things. Little animals and boxes and dollhouse furniture for Anne when she was still young enough to love and care for such things.

Daryl had just been a little kid but he knew he wanted to try and make things like that, too. He didn't know what he was doing when he first started but he kept at it and practiced and now, when he wasn't hunting or working on his bike or truck, it was a way for him to keep his hands and mind busy.

He had never needed that much sleep and when he finally leaned back against the tree behind him and closed his eyes, giving one last glance to Beth as she slept peacefully beside him, he woke up just a mere few hours later, just as the sun was beginning to turn a light pink hue with the soon rising sun. Beth was still sleeping, still curled in a ball beneath the blanket, and he pushed himself onto his knees, leaning forward and stoking the dying fire, bringing the flames to life again.

He then grabbed his crossbow and stood up, his knees cracking beneath him. He listened to the birds singing their morning songs as he went to relieve himself behind one of the trees. He debated waking Beth or not before he went off but in the end, he didn't want to disturb her. He wouldn't be gone that long anyway.

He cast one last glance towards their small campsite before he turned and walked further into the trees. He picked up on the tracks of several animals easily enough and just as easily, he bagged two more rabbits and a few squirrels. Normally, he wouldn't even bother with the little vermin but killing enough, he could use the meat and put it into a stew that would give him meals for a few days. He also followed the tracks of a raccoon for a little bit before decided to head back. Raccoon wasn't his favorite kind of meat and he had had enough for the time being. He didn't kill something unless he absolutely had to. No reason to be greedy about it.

When he stepped back through the trees, he saw that Beth was awake now, the blanket folded neatly on the ground and she was studying leaves on a nearby bush. She turned as soon as she heard him coming and she gave him a smile.

"Good morning," she greeted him cheerfully. He just grunted in response. Just because he was always awake so early didn't mean he was a morning person.

"You ready to head back?" He asked.

"Yep. But first… which of these leaves would be safe to use? To… wipe," she said.

He felt the tips of his ears instantly blaze red at that but he went up to her without a word. He pulled some harmless green leaves from the branches and held a fistful out to her. He almost told her the story of when he was a kid and had gotten lost and had picked the wrong leaves to wipe his ass. But he kept that story to himself because he never wanted to talk about it – especially not to Beth. It was just something that had happened to him and he had learned his lesson and knew what leaves to stay away from after that. It didn't matter anyway anymore.

"Thank you," she smiled at him and then took a moment to look around as if deciding upon the perfect tree she should use as a bathroom.

She walked off and Daryl went to the creek, crouching down and washing his hands, maybe doing so a bit louder and splashing more water than he usually would have but he didn't want to overhear Beth doing anything and he couldn't imagine that she would be alright with him hearing anything either.

He turned his head when he heard her coming again and he turned towards the fire when she stepped out from the trees. He poured the rest of his water bottle over the fire and then started kicking dirt over the flames to smother it out. He lifted his eyes to see her watching him and when she saw his eyes look to her, she gave him a smile. For having just spent the night on the ground of the woods with no other luxuries other than some scratchy musty-smelling blanket from his truck, she sure was looking as happy as hell that morning.

"How'd you sleep?" He heard himself ask.

Her smile seemed to brighten a little at the question. "Wonderful," she answered and he knew she was answering honestly. "There's something amazing about waking up and hearing nothing but birds and water and feeling fresh air right on your face."

Daryl nodded, lowering his eyes from her, looking down to make sure the fire was all out now and she didn't know that he agreed with her completely. If it was possible, he'd easily turn into one of those people who lived in the backwoods in nothing but a tent. He would happily take himself out of civilization and go off the grid. He was never too sure why he hadn't done that already.

"How'd you sleep?" Beth returned the question to him.

He shrugged. "Always sleep better out here than anywhere."

"Do you come hunting often?" She asked as he gathered his kills and she followed his lead and picked up the blanket. They fell into step beside one another and Daryl began leading them out of the woods.

"Wish I could do it more," he replied.

"Next time…" she began to say but then she cut herself off so abruptly, it made Daryl look at her, wondering what she had been about to say.

"Yeah?" He grunted, trying to prompt her to finish.

For some reason, with this girl, she talked entirely way too much but he found himself wanting to listen to everything she had to say. He couldn't figure out why. He was a man who had always craved peace and quiet but with Beth, there was something about her voice – and he wasn't sure entirely when it happened since this girl had been in his life for just a few days now – but something about her voice just seemed to make him feel calm.

Beth cleared her throat and she quickly shook her head. "It was just a silly idea I had. It's nothing," she said but Daryl kept looking at her, not saying anything, not asking her for more, and Beth felt his eyes on her and she turned, looking at him. She blushed deeply then as if embarrassed and now, Daryl's interest was piqued, wondering what the hell she had been thinking.

"I ain't a mind reader," he frowned at her.

"I was just thinking that maybe next time you go hunting, I can come with you?" She raised her voice at the end to signal that she was asking a question and not just inviting herself but even as she asked, she was already shaking her head. "I told you it's silly. Maybe even stupid."

Daryl didn't say anything for a moment and he knew that Beth was probably interpreting his silence as him agreeing with her. But he didn't find it to be that silly. Not that stupid either. Hunting was always his thing. His chance to be completely alone and get away from this world where he didn't like much of anything. Having Beth out there with him though – last night and this morning – it hadn't been terrible. Actually, he was pretty damn used to things being terrible and having Beth out here with him was as far as he was used to being from the word.

From the corner of his eye, he saw her stumble; her foot catching on a fallen tree branch half-hidden with leaves and his reflexes were quick. He turned and both of his hands shot out, grabbing a hold of her before she could trip any further and her hands were quick to grab his arms, gripping tightly, regaining her balance.

They stood there and he found himself looking down at her, eyes intent on the top of her head and all of that soft-looking blonde hair. And then Beth lifted her head, tilting it up towards his face and he instantly fell into her eyes. The biggest, bluest damn eyes he had ever seen. And she was settling them right on him.

His hands dropped from her as if she had burned him and she probably had and he took a quick step backwards, just desperate for any amount of space between them. Damn girl was making his stomach swirl as if he was going to be sick even though he hadn't eaten anything since that rabbit last night.

"Thank you," she said softly.

Daryl didn't dare look at her. Instead, his hand went to the pocket of his jeans and he fumbled for a moment before able to finally pull out what he had been struggling with. "Here," he said without any other explanation and thrust the object out towards her for her to take.

Beth looked down at it with a furrowed brow for a moment but then she broke into a soft smile as she lifted the small wooden bat with the spread wings from his palm. "Is this what you were working on last night?" She asked and he watched as she lifted the wood creation and turned it over in front of her face so she could see every single angle of it.

Daryl shrugged. "'s nothin'," he said. "Jus' somethin' I thought you'd like."

Beth lifted her eyes from the bat to him and her smile was bigger and brighter now. "I _love_ it," she corrected him and then before he could brace himself for it, she had stepped forward and was hugging him again, her arms around his waist and her head turned to rest on his chest and he stood there much like he had stood there the night before, still as stone and having no idea what to do. Beth pulled back after another moment and she looked up at him, still smiling. "Thank you so much, Daryl. Thank you for everything."

"'s nothin'," Daryl said again in a low gruff.

Beth shook her head though instantly, clearly not agreeing with him. "It's everything," she said in a soft voice yet firm tone and Daryl found himself not wanting to disagree with her. If that's what she believed, he saw no harm in it though he thought she was just a girl on the lookout for a new guy in her life.

He looked at her as she still had that faint smile across her face and she hugged the bat to her chest as if she had never held anything more precious. He wondered if Grandma Liv looked just like that every time Grandpa Chris handed her something new that he had made for her. Daryl didn't doubt it. Grandma Liv had loved that man deeply. Thought he was the best man in the world. And when he was a little kid, listening to stories about his grandpa, Daryl believed that about him, too.

He used to think about his Grandpa Chris all of the time; about how it would have been if the man hadn't died when he did. Would he have been able to stop his daughter from running off with Will Dixon? And if he hadn't been able to stop her then, would he have been able to get her away from him later and keep her safe?

If Grandpa Chris hadn't died, would Anne had gotten a chance to have a life, too?

"Do you want to go see T-Dog and get a doughnut for breakfast? My treat," she quickly added as if preparing for him to refuse.

Daryl didn't though. He was starving. "Yeah. We gotta go to my place though so I can stick these in the fridge until later."

Beth smiled and nodded, looking relieved. He wondered why it was so damn important to her that he agree to spend time with her. Girl must be desperate as hell for companionship now that her boyfriend wasn't in the picture anymore. He couldn't imagine a girl like Beth though having any shortage of friends. This girl was like the sun and things were just drawn and attracted to her.

Why would she want to waste her time spending it with him?

"Do you have a comb?" Beth asked once they were inside his apartment and he was shoving the rabbits and squirrels onto the near-empty shelves of the refrigerator.

"Yeah," he answered absent-mindedly as he moved past her and went into his tiny bathroom. He came back out with a flimsy cheap plastic black-toothed comb and she smiled her thanks at him before she began her best to untangle the long locks of her hair.

He wasn't sure what to do with himself while she did that and Daryl found himself watching her. She'd wince from time to time when she hit a particularly nasty snarl but she pushed on and soon, her hair was looking as soft and smooth as it ever did. She set down the comb on the counter and then fished for something in her messenger bag. She found a hair band and quickly threw her hair in a ponytail.

"Next time we go out in the woods, maybe we'll bring you a lil' tent so you don't gotta rest your head on the ground," he heard himself say before he could stop to think.

Beth looked at him and he wondered what she would say to that. He almost held his breath, imagining her saying all sorts of things and they were all things he would have no idea how to respond to.

But Beth didn't say anything. Instead, she just kept looking at him and smiling at him and he was right about her being the sun. He was pretty sure he had never even seen the sun look as bright as this Beth Greene did when she was smiling.

They didn't discuss it. Leaving his apartment again and heading down the stairs, he climbed astride his bike parked on the curb and Beth climbed on behind him. He couldn't figure out how they were so comfortable around one another. He didn't even know this girl but her arms slid around his waist and she held onto him snugly as if this was something well-rehearsed between them. A habit of sorts almost. And he roared through town with a frown on his face because how the hell could it be? He still didn't even know this girl. He couldn't stop looking at her and seeing his mom and he wasn't that smart of a guy but he knew something about that was fucked up in the head and not right.

They were later at the doughnut shop that morning than they usually were and there were other patrons there already. Daryl and Beth sat down on two of the vinyl stools at the counter and a weekend waitress with the name _Karen_ on her nametag came to fill their porcelain cups with steaming hot coffee and then got them two of the honey dip doughnuts they ordered before hurrying away to get other customers more coffee.

Someone who had been there earlier had left their newspaper behind on the counter and Beth moved it closer to her, taking a bite of her doughnut as her eyes scanned over the articles on the front page. Daryl didn't speak and just sipped his coffee and ate his doughnut and tried to ignore how comfortable he felt around her.

"Daryl?" Beth said his name suddenly and he turned his head to look at her, not saying anything in response and just kept chewing on his doughnut and waiting for her to continue. "If I went to the police station today, to tell them about Zach…" she paused and swallowed. "Would you come with me?" She looked nervous and unsure but her eyes never left his.

And Daryl found himself unable to look away from her. He wasn't too sure what to say. He wanted to ask her why him. Why, when they barely knew each other, did she want him coming to some police station with her so she could report on her ex? Didn't this girl have someone else in her life who would be better to do that with her than him? Who the hell was he to her?

"Please?" Beth asked softly and that was all she had to say. Hell, she didn't even have to say that.

Daryl gave his head a nod. "Yeah," he said and Beth released a breath she had been holding and she leaned in a little closer to him, her shoulder brushing against his. Daryl sat still and didn't move away from her but he didn't move in closer either.

…

* * *

 **Thank you very much for reading and commenting and thank you for all of the comments so far!**

 **Other characters begin making appearances in the next chapter - including Rick and Hershel.**


	9. Glazed

…

 **Chapter Nine.** Glazed.

After doughnuts and coffee, Daryl took Beth back to her apartment and she asked if he could come back around noon so they could go to the police station. He had agreed and had sat idly on the curb, watching her go inside. He then went back to his place and took his time, skinning and cleaning the animals, cutting them into sections and then storing them away in his freezer. He then took a shower and cleaned himself up.

He didn't know what he was expecting. He still didn't know why Beth would want him there with her but he would go because she wanted him to come with her and for some reason, Daryl felt as if he should go with her. He had never been able to go with his mom and maybe if he went with Beth this time, she would actually be able to step through those police station doors and do something about the guy who hit her. He wondered if he should give Rick a head's up about them coming to him.

When he had first moved to this little town, he didn't expect to stay. He never stayed in one place for too long and even without Merle around, Daryl still drifted around. He stayed long enough to get some work and get some cash in his pocket before moving on. He didn't know what he was doing or if he was even looking for something but he just knew that he what he was doing seemed good enough for him at the moment.

So he got the night shift at some warehouse and on his second night there, he had noticed the glass smashed in a window and he and Oscar called the police. Rick and his partner, Shane, showed up to investigate and Daryl was expecting them to blame him. Some strange redneck comes to town and the warehouse is broken into. It would have been easy to blame him and though Shane snarled a lot, he and Rick took their time and hadn't looked to Daryl and Oscar one time – instead declaring that it was an outside job and they had a list of suspects already of some less than savory characters who had records for doing this sort of thing in the past.

For the first time in his life, Daryl didn't really hate the law enforcement he came in contact with. He sometimes saw them at the doughnut shop and after a while, Rick started talking with him and at first, Daryl would just grunt but then, after a while, he started talking back. He had been Sheriff in this area for just a little over two years and had a wife and a son and a baby daughter and Rick asked Daryl about his family. That was the only time Daryl had ever fully ignored him.

Before he realized it, months had passed and he was still living in this town and still had his warehouse job and Rick was inviting him over to his house for Christmas dinner. Daryl wasn't exactly sure when or even _how_ it had happened but it was almost as if he and Rick had somehow become friends along the way.

That early morning, at the doughnut shop when he had first laid eyes on Beth and had punched Zach in the face, he and Rick had gone outside to talk and for Rick could get his side of the story. Rick had warned him. Women rarely pressed charges against the men who hit him and Daryl had just stared at him because Rick wouldn't know that he did but that was something Daryl knew all too well.

It was too late for Beth to press charges against Zach now but the fact that she even wanted to go to the police, Daryl wanted to make sure that nothing happened that would make her regret her decision. He would call and make sure that Rick was at the station right now so he would be the one Beth talked to and not some rookie.

Daryl drove his truck this time and got to Beth's apartment at ten minutes till noon. She was already outside waiting for him and she had gotten herself cleaned up, too. Daryl tried not to stare at her in her floral dress and purple cardigan sweater and the way her hair looked so soft. He averted his eyes down to the steering wheel and he barely glanced at her as she opened the door and climbed up onto the seat.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Hey," he grunted, glancing at her, seeing her staring down at her hands in her lap, clutched tightly together.

She was quiet in a way he already knew wasn't normal for her and he was tempted to reach over and rest his hand over hers but he didn't dare. He remembered the way his hands had burned this morning in the woods when he had touched her and most people didn't look to get burned twice after already getting burned once.

"You okay?" He asked instead.

Beth lifted her head and looked at him and did her best to smile. "Mmmm-hmm," she said with the slightest of nods.

Daryl didn't pull away from the curb though. He kept looking at her and she looked nervous and scared – he sure as hell recognized those looks – but she kept looking at him, too. And forgetting about the way she had scalded him, Daryl found himself reaching a hand out and before he could stop and think about what the hell he was doing, his hand came to a rest of both of her clasped ones. And it seemed like that was exactly what Beth wanted and needed him to do because she moved one of her hands from under his and placed it on top, gripping his hand between both of hers.

He felt the searing in his skin but he didn't move his hand away. The way she was gripping his hand right now – as if they were in the water and his hand was the only thing keeping her from drowning – he didn't even think of pulling his hand from her.

"'ll be okay," he said to her in a low voice. She nodded again and he knew she didn't believe him. "I ain't gonna leave your side unless you wan' me to," he said.

Beth tightened his hand in response.

He drove them to the police station with one hand and when he parked in a space in the small lot, he expected her to sit in the truck for a few minutes but as soon as he turned the engine off, she was opening her door and getting out. Daryl shoved the keys in his pocket and walked around the truck to come to stand next to her. Beth instantly found his hand again, grasping it tightly once more.

She stood, staring up at the building as if she had never seen a more frightening sight. "I don't know if I can do this," she then admitted in such a quiet voice, Daryl knew he wouldn't have been able to hear her if his ears weren't as good as they were. "And I hate myself that I don't know if I can do this."

Daryl shook his head. "Shouldn' hate yourself. Lot of women can't do this."

Beth looked at him then, turning her head and tilting her eyes up to his face, and Daryl was quick to look down at the pavement. He wondered if he had just given too much of himself away to her but there was no way she could know or understand anything with the vague words he had just used.

He used to be so angry at his mom all of the time because not only had she never gone to the police, she had never even been able to get into the car to _maybe_ go. But as he got older, he began to understand a little more. It wasn't as if Will Dixon worked all of the time but he did on occasion and he was still the primary breadwinner of the family. Anne thought that if she left, she would have nothing. That was her husband and with him, she had sons and a house. It was hard to be able to stand up to the person who you thought you relied on so much.

But Beth wasn't Anne and Beth had no ties to Zach. They weren't married and he didn't take care of her and they didn't have kids. Beth could take a stand against him and hopefully get rid of him once and for all. He wished he was better with words because he wanted to tell her that there was nothing to be scared of; that she was already so brave for even asking him to come here with her.

"I gave Rick Grimes a call 'fore I picked you up," he said instead and she was still looking up at him. He gave his shoulders a shrug. "Was thinkin' you'd be more comfortable talkin' with him instead of someone else. He's inside, waitin'."

The smile she gave him then was small but it was genuine. She squeezed his hand still clutched in hers. "Thank you, Daryl."

Once they were inside, as promised, Rick was right there, waiting for them and he smiled as soon as he saw them.

"Hi, Beth," he said to her warmly.

Beth did her best to smile in return and she still hadn't let go of Daryl's hand. Daryl watched Rick but Rick didn't seem to notice her holding his hand and if he did notice, the man definitely didn't seem to care. Daryl told himself that Beth holding his hand wasn't a big deal.

"I figured we could go talk in my office. You might be a bit more comfortable in there," Rick suggested.

"Thank you," Beth said, managing to speak in her normal-volume voice.

"Would you like anything to drink? Coffee, water. I think Shane has some bourbon hidden in his desk he doesn't think I know about," Rick joked and Beth smiled.

"I'm alright, thank you," she said and Daryl almost wanted a shot for himself.

Rick's office was small with a desk and two chairs in front of it and a small couch against the wall for when he had to work late and needed to catch a quick nap. There were pictures of his family – his wife, Lori, son, Carol and baby Judith – on his desk and some random Atlanta Braves merchandise. Daryl knew the man was a big baseball fan and Carl playing baseball that spring was Rick's greatest joy. Daryl had even gone to a couple of games with the man, sitting on the aluminum bleachers in the baseball field, smirking to himself as Rick yelled at the umpire for a shitty call.

Beth sat down in one of the plastic chairs and Daryl sat down beside her and Rick settled himself in the chair behind his desk. He pulled out a yellow pad of paper and a pen as well as a small tape recorder, hitting the red button before setting it down.

"We're going to take a picture of your lip if that's alright with you," Rick said.

Beth's hand instantly flew up to her upper lip which she was still covering with makeup. "It's not as bad as it was…"

"No, but it's still obvious he slapped you. Was that the first time he hit you?" Rick asked, leaning forward, his arms on the desk, his eyes never leaving Beth.

"Yes," Beth nodded. "He… he'd get angry and yell a lot and I never really knew what was going to set him off. It wasn't always like that," she then quickly added. "We dated for three years and the first two… I loved him," she then whispered and her eyes were lowered to her lap as if she was ashamed of herself for saying that.

Daryl listened as Beth talked about dating Zach. How good it was in the beginning and how nice and sweet he was. The perfect boyfriend. But then, slowly, things started making him angry. Little things that Beth didn't think were big deals at all. Another boy smiling at her or talking with her or studying with some of her friends for a class they shared. He became jealous. Possessive. _Scary_.

Daryl listened to it all and he swore that if he closed his eyes, he could almost hear his mom's voice. It had faded over the years and he didn't know if he remembered it anymore exactly the way it used to sound – not like he could still remember Grandma Liv's – but sometimes, he could still hear his mom's voice in his head, usually when he was looking at the birds and could hear her telling him a random fact about one of them.

Beth sounded just like Anne though he didn't know the story of his parents. They had met and Anne had run off with him but Daryl didn't know anything other than that. He didn't know if his dad had ever loved his mom or if he had ever been nice and sweet to her. He didn't know if he had started hitting her right away or if it had slowly been built to.

"I know it's too late to press charges," Beth said and Daryl was brought from his thoughts to focus on her again. "But is it possible to maybe get a restraining order? For him and for me, too? I don't… I don't know if I'm strong enough to keep him away if he comes around to my place again."

"You are," Daryl heard himself speak before he even realized it and Beth looked at him, giving him the softest, sweetest smile he had ever seen.

There was a knock on the door then and Rick gave Beth an apologizing smile before getting up to see who it was. Beth exhaled a deep breath and Daryl wished he had a cigarette. He looked at her. He couldn't help it. He still didn't know why he was here. Was it all just because of his mom? Was he just trying to help Beth because he hadn't been able to help Anne?

He could just imagine the field day a head shrink would have with him.

"Beth," Rick said and they both turned in their chairs to see who was at the door.

A man stood there with white hair and a white beard and when Beth saw him, she gasped and flew to her feet.

"Daddy…" she said and then said nothing else, her mouth opening and closing but no sound coming out; looking like a fish caught on the line.

Daryl got to his feet, too, and looked at Rick, wondering why the hell he called her dad and it had to have been Rick because he sure as hell didn't call the man – he didn't even know the man – and it was clear that Beth hadn't called him either.

"Bethy," the man stepped into the room then and his eyes swept over her face.

Beth took a step back from him and was standing closer now to Daryl and he wondered if she even realized she had done it. The man then looked at him.

"Hershel Greene. I'm Beth's father," the man introduced him and took a step forward, sticking out his hand.

"Daryl Dixon," he grunted and shook the man's hand and then his eyes went to Beth, who's eyes were now brimming with tears.

She shook her head, staring at her father. "I didn't want to tell you…"

And Hershel looked as if he was about to start crying now, too, as he pulled Beth into a hug and she embraced him tightly. Daryl stood there for a moment, feeling more and more awkward with each passing second, and he began edging towards the door. With her dad here, Beth wouldn't need him there anymore to give her support. She was still hugging Hershel and didn't even notice as Daryl slipped towards the door. Rick was still standing there and as Daryl left the office, Rick followed him.

"Hershel Greene's a real good man," Rick told him as they stepped into the hallway and Rick partially closed the office door behind them. "I figured Beth could use all the support she could get right now. This is never something easy for a girl to do."

Daryl nodded his head once, looking to the floor. He didn't need to be told that.

"'m gonna head out," he did say, lifting his eyes, looking at Rick through his hair.

Rick didn't look surprised but he clearly didn't agree. He frowned a little. "I think Beth might still need you in there."

"Nah," Daryl was quick to take a step back and shake his head. "Her pops' here now. She won't even notice I'm gone."

Rick was still frowning and clearly wanted to say something more but Daryl turned and headed down the hallway before he could. And the second he was outside, heading towards his truck, he lit a cigarette. He felt like he could breathe again and he had no idea why he would ever feel disappointed like he was feeling right now.

…

Daryl had fallen asleep and he woke up to someone knocking on his door. He had a feeling he knew who it was but he was tempted to ignore it.

He had been dreaming about his mom – which didn't surprise him considering what he had done that day and how much she had been on his mind lately. It seemed like ever since he saw Beth for the first time, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about his parents and grandparents and he almost wanted to hate her for that because he had been able to get through _years_ without being preoccupied with shit he had tried his hardest to forget.

Anne with her blonde hair and green eyes that sparkled like emeralds when she was on the verge of tears and so much of Daryl's childhood, she seemed to be crying.

There was another knock and Daryl pulled himself from the couch. He really didn't want to see her and yet, his feet seemed to have a mind of their own as they took him right to the door. He twisted the lock and opened the door without glancing into the peephole and sure enough, Beth stood in the hallway, waiting for him.

"Hi," she greeted to him, giving him a soft smile.

Daryl grunted what he assumed was a greeting and turned, heading back inside, leaving the door open for her to follow him if she wanted. And she did, entering the apartment and closing the door behind her. He went into the kitchen and to the sink to fill a glass with water from the tap. He heard her behind him and then his entire body stiffened when he felt her right behind him, her arms around his waist and her cheek to his back, hugging him.

"Thank you for coming with me today," she whispered.

Daryl didn't move and he sure as hell didn't know what to say.

"I don't think I could have done any of that without you," she added.

Daryl grunted again. "You would 'ave been fine," he said.

Her arms slipped from him then and she took a step back. Daryl turned around so he was facing her. She shook her head at him.

"I like to think that I could have but the truth is, I was absolutely terrified today and the only time I actually felt like I could do it was when you were holding my hand."

Daryl stared at her.

"I wish you hadn't left."

He shrugged then as if he didn't care one way or another. "Your ol' man was there."

Beth stepped forward again and this time he was ready for her. He didn't stiffen as her arms encircled his waist and she was hugging him again.

"Daddy blames himself. He thought he had done something that would make me want to be with a guy who mistreats me," she said.

Daryl almost snorted at that as if amused. Girls had their daddy issues, yeah, but sometimes, girls – and guys – just made shitty decisions no matter who their parents were. Grandpa Chris had been a good man and had loved his daughter and she still wound up with a man who constantly beat the shit out of her.

"And I love my daddy so much but I started to have to worry about him and comfort him instead…" she trailed off and fell quiet.

Daryl felt his chin against the top of her head as she seemed to nestle in closer to him, pressing herself to his chest, and he couldn't remember ever feeling so warm. Before Beth, he couldn't remember the last time someone has hugged him. When he had gone over to the Grimes' for Christmas, he had held Judith and the baby had pulled at the hairs on his chin but Beth hugging him was completely different – in the obvious ways and not so obvious ways.

Beth hugging him… it was the nicest thing to happen to him in a long time and he was actually able to admit that to himself.

He lifted his hand and it lightly cupped her elbow through her sweater.

"I'm sorry," she said just a whisper. "For dragging you into all of this. I never…"

"You didn' drag me into anythin'," Daryl said, his chin still against the top of her head. "Dixons don't go anywhere they don't wanna go."

He couldn't see her face but he could nearly hear her smile at that.

"I told my daddy about you. He wants to meet you again and get to know you," Beth said and he felt himself beginning to stiffen again. And Beth must have felt it, too, because she pulled her head back, her arms remaining around his waist, and she looked up at him. "He wanted to invite you to dinner and thank you for being such a good friend to me."

Daryl felt himself frowning. "Nah, he don't gotta thank me."

He waited for Beth to say something – ask him to dinner again or plead with him to go and not accept his answer. But she stayed quiet and kept looking up at him.

He wanted to kiss her. The realization slammed into him suddenly but after a moment, he knew that the realization didn't exactly surprise him and he wondered how long he had been hosting that thought in his head. He couldn't kiss her, of course. Guys like him couldn't go around kissing girls like Beth Greene. All clean and pretty and a fucking spot of actual sunshine. And he shouldn't even have to mention and remind the age difference to himself because that was the most obvious reason of all as to why he couldn't kiss her.

But she was looking up at him with those big blue eyes of hers. Blue like a lake or like the sky and they weren't green. She wasn't his mom and today should have been enough proof of that. Beth had gone to the police station. Beth had taken a stand. Beth had tried to do something to protect herself. She wasn't his mom.

She was someone better.

"If you ever change your mind, the offer is always open," she told him.

Daryl kept staring down at her. When she came in and hugged him, she had brought her scent with her and now, the air around them felt so sweet, he wanted to just close his eyes and inhale. It almost reminded him of the doughnut shop in the early morning before too many customers got there and T-Dog was still baking.

And he told himself not to do it but he seemed to do nothing but ignore himself when Beth Greene was around because he started to and he wasn't able to stop.

He lowered his head and she probably thought he was going to kiss her but his lips passed hers and his face found the side of her neck. She tightened her arms around him as he pressed his face to the side of her warm neck and he took a whiff of her.

"Daryl," she whispered his name and he felt her hand on the back of his head, fingers sliding through his hair.

He almost felt like shivering because no one had ever said his name like that in his life. Like if she could only say one word for the rest of her life, she would be perfectly fine if that word was his name.

He pressed his face tighter against her skin and his hand dropped down from her elbow to curl his fingers around her hip. If he had ever been wondering, he now knew. He now knew what fucking sunshine smelled like and all he wanted to do was smell it – smell _her_ – until he passed out. What the hell was this girl doing to him?

…

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 **Thank you very much for reading and please comment!  
**

 **I know this story isn't like my usual fluff that I write but I am so proud of myself for the way this is turning out and I am addicted to writing Daryl and his family. If you would like to see pictures of Dixon family inspiration, I have them posted on my tumblr under the _Fight to Win_ tag. Thank you again!**


	10. Cheerwine Chocolate

*** quick note - I have already received a couple of reviews about Daryl's job/pay. I will explain that more in a later chapter when he tells Beth about the job/company he works for. Thank you!**

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…

 **Chapter Ten.** Cheerwine Chocolate.

When his boss called and asked him if he could get to the warehouse a little bit early to talk with him, Daryl was convinced he was fired. He wasn't sure what he had done to warrant losing his job but there was a part of him that wasn't necessarily surprised. He was a Dixon and they weren't exactly known for holding down a job.

But he had had this job for almost a year and he thought he had been doing a pretty good job. His boss had never complained to him about his performance before so Daryl had just assumed that he would be able to keep doing this job for a while. It was a steady income and he was able to pay his bills and rent and still have a little bit left over. He had even had health insurance for the first time in his life.

As he drove to the warehouse later that afternoon, he wondered where he would look for his next job. It was a university town so there had to be other jobs around.

There was an office building attached to the warehouse and the only other time he had been inside had been months earlier when he had first been interviewed and hired. He assumed it was like any other office. Cubicles and computers and file cabinets with a couple of green plants in the corners by the windows. Daryl wasn't entirely too sure what went on in here. Sales of some sort. Electrical stuff because Daryl moved reels of cable and wire and boxes of light fixtures every night, putting away deliveries and taking inventory and getting ready for shipments the next day.

The man in charge was Abraham – a large man with red hair and matching handlebar mustache. When Daryl first met him, he had gotten an ex-military feel from him and walking into the man's office, he had been right. Pictures of him with old comrades in different parts of the world, wearing their uniforms. He had been in the army for twenty years before retiring and entering the "private sector" as he called it. He was a bit of an odd man to imagine being any type of manager of an office but Daryl didn't have that much interaction with him and he could only assume that he was good at his job.

When Daryl walked in, some of the other employees were still there, sitting at their desks, clacking away on their computers or answering ringing telephones. They were all dressed in button down shirts and slacks or skirts and Daryl instantly felt out of place in his holey jeans and flannel shirt and he definitely didn't belong here.

"Daryl!" Abraham stepped out of his office and exclaimed his name in a boisterous tone that got the attention of a few of the others, curiously looking over at him.

Daryl left the front door and crossed the carpeted floor towards the man.

"Right on time," Abraham grinned at him and slapped him on the back with a rough hand before ushering him into the office and closing the door behind them both. "Sit, sit. You want something to drink?"

"Nah, I'm alright, thanks," Daryl said, lowering himself into one of the chairs in front of the man's desk and Abraham went to the mini-fridge to get himself a bottle of water. Daryl began running his palms slowly on the thighs of his jeans, wishing Abraham would just get on with it and fire him. Why be nice about it?

Abraham kept grinning though as he sat down in his own seat behind his desk. "Do you like working nights?" He asked, apparently diving right into it.

Daryl shrugged. "'s alright. Took some gettin' used to."

"You got a girl? How is she with you working nights?" Abraham asked, leaning back in his chair, it groaning a little beneath him, and unscrewing the cap from his water bottle but he didn't take a sip.

Beth immediately popped into his mind and he nearly began frowning because of it. Beth was _not_ his girl. Nowhere near it and he wasn't going to allow himself to think of her being anything other than the girl who sometimes sat with him as they ate doughnuts and drank coffee in the mornings. She wasn't anything more than that.

Daryl shook his head. "'s jus' me," he said.

Abraham nodded and took a guzzle of water and seemed to be thinking something through. Daryl sat there, waiting, watching, wishing he would just get fired already if that was where Abraham was leading this to.

"Our warehouse guy who works the days walked out on us," Abraham said. "Claimed it was too stressful for him and he was tired of putting up with everything. Left us in a lurch and screwed us over. But then you immediately popped into my head and how hard you've been working here for the past ten months."

Daryl stared at him, not allowing himself to assume he knew what Abraham was talking about. Maybe he was just the kind of man to compliment them before firing them. Daryl was not going to think that his boss had invited him in here to promote him. He had learned long ago that nothing good ever happened in life and getting your hopes up was nothing but pointless and disappointing.

"Was hoping you would consider switching to the day shift. Seven to four," Abraham said. "It comes with a little raise because the day warehouse manager _does_ have to do a little bit more but I don't think it would be anything you couldn't handle. You would have to put up with everyone in this office though, including me," the man added with a grin.

Daryl didn't smile though. He had heard Abraham's words and he knew all of those words, and yet, he didn't entirely understand.

"Manager?" Daryl then echoed the one word he couldn't quite believe.

Abraham nodded. "You'd be in charge of the whole warehouse. Keeping track of inventory, unloading the trucks when they get here for deliveries, keeping track of paperwork, loading up the pallets and getting them ready for shipments. The warehouse would be yours."

Daryl took another moment. "I don't know much about paperwork," he then said.

Abraham's smile grew. "We'd train you. Hell, I still don't know about paperwork. I'm just damn good at pretending like I know what I'm doing. You need time to think it over? I'll give you a day but I need an answer by tomorrow afternoon. I hate to rush you but Monday morning, I need a guy in that warehouse, ready to go."

It took Daryl just another minute more. Not only was he not getting fired but he was actually being promoted. Warehouse manager. An actual manager in charge of something and for a brief moment, he imagined telling Beth about it and knowing she would be so happy and excited for him.

Why the hell was this girl always in his head?

"Nah, I don't have to think about it," Daryl said with a shake of his head. "I'll take it."

"Fantastic!" Abraham boomed with a wide smile. "You'll start Monday. Seven a.m. Take the couple of days off so you can start fresh. Oscar can handle the nights. Fantastic," he said again and then stood up, Daryl following his lead and standing up as well. Abraham thrust his hand out and Daryl shook it.

"Thanks," Daryl reminded himself to say and Abraham kept beaming. He headed towards the door but then stopped, turning back towards Abraham. "You mentioned about a little bit more money?"

"You make what? Twenty an hour now?" Abraham said and Daryl nodded. It was a meager living but it was more than enough for him and forty hours at twenty bucks for each one was more money than he had ever had before. "Warehouse manager, you're entitled to thirty," he said.

Daryl wasn't sure how he actually left the office because he swore he could feel the ground swaying beneath his feet as he walked. He kept saying the number to himself but he couldn't quite believe it and he wasn't sure if he even really understood it. Thirty bucks an hour. Forty hours a week. Two paychecks a month. After taxes and paying for insurance… what the hell was he going to do with all of that money? He had never had money before in his life and now, he was going to have more than he ever dreamed. He knew to most, it still wouldn't seem like a lot but to him who was used to living on dirt, this was going to make him feel as rich as any king.

He had driven his truck that day and before he even realized it, he had driven to the hardware store. He got out and entered, the bell ringing as he opened the door. Beth was standing at the register, checking out a customer who was bags of fertilizer. She lifted her eyes when she heard the bell and she burst into a smile the instant she saw him. Daryl felt his own lips twitch in response.

It had been a week since the police station and she came over to his place. He tried not to think about the way he had inhaled the side of her neck but he knew she hadn't seemed to mind. When he had finally pulled his head back and looked at her, she smiled faintly up at him and looked flushed and Daryl felt his stomach clenching like it seemed to do all of the time when he was around her.

He could feel it clenching right now.

He hadn't touched her since. Some mornings, she would be there in the doughnut shop and they ate their doughnuts and drank coffee and Beth talked about her classes. He rarely talked in return but he listened to every word she had to say. She loved music and was always telling him about some song or singer or something she was writing for one of her classes. He had almost asked her, more than once, to play him something sometime.

Beth finished ringing up the customer. "Have a wonderful day, Mrs. Palmer!" She called out to the woman and Daryl pushed the door open, holding it for her as she carried her fertilizer outside, the woman smiling warmly at him in return.

"Hi," Beth then greeted him, coming around the counter. "What are you doing here?"

"Was in the need for some more birdseed," he shrugged and she smiled as if she somehow knew that he wasn't here _just_ for birdseed.

"I knew I would see you today," Beth said as she led him down the appropriate aisle. "I woke up and saw a beautiful red cardinal right outside my window and I knew that today was going to be a good day."

 _It is illegal to own a Cardinal as a pet or to kill one; they are a government-protected wild bird species and protected pursuant to the "Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918."_

Daryl heard his mom's voice in his head, reading off a fact from her bird calendar.

He picked up a twelve pound bag of birdseed this time and hefted it onto his shoulder. "Damn birds are eatin' me out of home," he pretended to grumble.

Beth laughed lightly and his damn stomach clenched. "They're used to you now."

He looked at her and his throat felt thick. He almost told her that he had gotten used to her now, too. He would never say anything like that and yet, he had felt the strong need to voice the words rising in his throat. Luckily, he was able to swallow them down before they could spill out past his lips.

"What time do you get outta here?" He asked instead.

"I close tonight. Seven," she answered.

"I got good news today. At work. Was wonderin' if you wanted to maybe go and get somethin' to eat with me. To celebrate?"

He heard the words he was saying and yet, he couldn't really believe that he was saying them. He was actually inviting to take her out to dinner. Was this a date? He had never been on a date before in his life and he didn't know if that's what this was but Beth probably would think that it was. Beth was the kind of girl who probably got asked out on dates all the time.

But the smile Beth gave him in that moment was all worth it. He'd take this girl out on a thousand dates if that's what she thought this was if she would smile like that again. How could Zach even get the thought in his head to slap this girl let alone actually do it? Daryl would never hit a woman and looking down at Beth as she beamed her own piece of sunshine up at him, he couldn't imagine ever doing something like that. He didn't understand guys who could and did. He always wondered if it was inside of him though. He was Will Dixon's son after all. Maybe one day, someone – maybe Beth – would just make him so angry and he would snap.

No. No way would that happen. It couldn't happen. Daryl would rather cut both of his hands off then ever lay them on Beth. He would rather never see her again.

"I would love to come and celebrate with you," Beth said and her smile never faded and her eyes never moved from his.

And because she wasn't looking away from him, Daryl couldn't move his eyes away from either.

He wondered if she had had any idea how much he was thinking of her lately.

"It ain't gonna be anywhere fancy," he felt the need to tell her and Beth laughed at that, shaking her head.

"I'm a college student. Getting something that isn't on the McDonald's dollar menu is fancy to me," she smiled and he actually felt himself smiling a little at that, too.

"Think I can afford to get you a value meal if you wan' one," he heard himself joking with her and she laughed again and he got this strong need in the pit of his stomach to keep trying to get her to laugh. He wasn't a funny guy by any means but Beth seemed to think otherwise and he almost allowed himself to like the way she thought about him.

"I can't wait," Beth said, still smiling up at him. "You'll come back around seven?"

He nodded once. "I'll be here."

 _Nowhere else I'd rather be_ , he silently added in his head.

…

He didn't know if it was a date. He wanted to tell himself it wasn't. He had never been on a date before and he didn't know if he wanted to go on one. He had gone through his life this long without participating in something anything like that. There had never really been a girl in his life who he had even been interested in. He had learned early on that most the girls wouldn't even look and if they did, they would then turn to their friends and laugh behind their hands at the poor, dirty white-trash redneck looking at them.

And if a girl did show interest in him, it was usually the kind of a girl Merle would go for. The kind that hung out at the bars who wore too much leather and liked showing off too much skin with too much makeup caked on their face and huge chests that Daryl didn't understand how they could walk without toppling over. They were trashy – just like him – and Daryl never understood why he hadn't been attracted to any of them but they were so comfortable with touching, it actually made him feel _uncomfortable_ and they were all looking for a man to save them.

Daryl had never been able to save anyone before. Not his mom. Not his grandma. So why would anyone look to him to save them from their mile-long issues?

Beth was different in every possible way. She was good and kind and that goodness on the inside of her shone through to the outside and he hardly even knew her but he already knew she was one of the best people he had ever met. He could just imagine how his Grandma Liv would feel about her if she was still around and Daryl had the chance to introduce them to one another.

Grandma Liv had loved tea and had had boxes of it in the kitchen cabinet. Daryl had always hated it – no matter how much honey she had tried to add to it to try and get him to like it. He imagined that Beth probably liked tea, too, and when Daryl brought her over to the house, Grandma Liv would make a pot and she and Beth would sit down with their delicate tea cups and drink and laugh about silly things – probably all at Daryl's expense.

And then, once they had eaten their meatloaf that Grandma Liv had always made the best and Grandma Liv had sliced out pieces of the apple pie she had baked just for this occasion, and Beth was already outside, Grandma Liv would pull Daryl into a hug and smile up at him and tell him not to let that one go.

And Daryl would promise to her that he wasn't planning on it.

Daryl forced himself to shake his head at all of those damn thoughts. It wasn't real and it never would be. Grandma Liv was dead and he wasn't taking Beth out on a date. He had just gotten good news that day and she was the first person who popped into his head who he wanted to tell.

He didn't even know if they were friends. Beth probably looked at him as if they were and Daryl supposed he could look at her like that, too. If she wanted that.

He spent the afternoon cleaning the apartment – though there wasn't that much of anything messy to clean – and with the feeder full of seed once more, there was a flutter of activity as all sorts of birds came to eat and Daryl found himself just sitting and watching them for a while.

Around five, he took a quick shower and found himself standing in his bedroom, unsure what to wear. And he instantly felt stupid for that. What did it matter what he wore? And it wasn't as if he had some sort of extensive wardrobe to choose from. He wound up wearing what he usually always wore. Jeans that weren't dirty but had a hole in the knee, a tee-shirt, one of his flannel shirts and his jacket. He shook a hand through his hair and wondered if he should finally get it cut. It was getting a little long, he supposed.

He found himself scowling at himself in the mirror's reflection. What the hell was he doing? What the hell was _Beth_ doing to him? He didn't even know this girl and she was flipping him upside down and he didn't understand the hell why.

When he went back to the hardware store, he was still frowning.

The bell tinkled and Beth wasn't anywhere to be seen so he stood near the front of the store, waiting, looking over the different rakes and shovels Otis sold.

He wished he had a bit of land for himself. He liked the apartment. It was definitely the nicest place he had ever lived in besides his Grandma's house for that brief time and the apartment was all his without anyone else there to trash it. But sometimes, he felt like it was slowly closing in on him and it was too damn small and he would have to get outside to the woods as soon as he could. He'd love to live out there. Just nothing but him and the trees and animals and no one else around for miles.

He found himself wondering if there was any property for sale around here. Maybe if he saved for a while, with the help of his new job, he'd be able to actually afford it if there was.

"Hey!" Beth's eager greeting reached his ears and he turned his head to see her coming up the aisle. The apron she wore when working here was gone and she had already turned the lights off in the back of the store. "I am starving," she declared and he felt his lips twitching as he looked at her.

She wore these jeans that looked as if they were formed to her legs like another skin, ready to be shed off at the end of the night like a snake's – his ears turned red at the thought of Beth undressing – and an over-sized green sweatshirt that looked as if it had belonged to a man before her, the sleeves so long, she had rolled them a few times so her hands were free. They were pushed to her elbows at the moment and she wore at least a dozen bracelets on her left wrist and he noticed that she was always wearing bracelets on that wrist.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

"I have been craving this value meal for hours now," she beamed and he smiled, too. Actually smiled. And Beth's own smile seemed to grow at the sight of it.

He waited on the sidewalk outside for her as she finished turning off the lights and then closed and locked the door securely behind her. She then turned towards him and took a deep breath.

"Ready?" She asked him this time.

He nodded. "I brought my bike… I 'member how much you liked it that one time."

"I have been wanting another ride. I just didn't know if I could ask," she admitted.

Daryl swallowed, feeling his throat get a little dry at that. His hands were in his pockets and he shrugged, suddenly finding the sidewalk to be the most interesting thing around him right then to be looking at.

"Could 'ave asked me anytime," he muttered, probably too softly for her to hear him all that clear. He then lifted his eyes back to her and her smile had softened, but still on her face as she looked at him.

Damn this girl for being so pretty.

He climbed onto the bike and Beth followed, sitting behind him, getting herself situated and then sliding her arms around his waist. He took a moment, just allowing himself to feel her pressed up behind him. She was small and warm and how the hell could someone as small as her be as hot as any fire he had ever lit?

He thought of those girls in the bar and how he flinched whenever one of them had ever touched him. He had flinched and tense plenty of times when Beth touched him. Girl was too damn open with her affection all of the time but now, he found himself getting used to it. He supposed it was because he was used to her now.

He revved the bike up and when he took off down the street, he felt Beth's arms tighten around his waist and he heard her let out a happy laugh and Daryl let a smile slowly spread across his face in response.

…

"Absolutely perfect," Beth said with the voice of a person who was completely content with everything in her life as she dunked her last chicken McNugget into the small container of sweet and sour sauce.

Daryl had finished his Big Mac already and sat, unable to help but watch her eat as he sipped on his Coke through the straw.

The small town had two fast food places. A McDonald's at one end and a Taco Bell at the other and while Beth seemed perfectly happy with eating at a McDonald's for dinner, Daryl wished he had been able to take her somewhere – _anywhere_ – else even though he reminded himself that Beth really didn't seem like the kind of girl who cared about things like that.

She smiled at him across the small plastic table with her eyes as she chewed and one corner of his mouth twitched upwards in response. He knew he didn't have to. Hell, he didn't even have to do this tonight. But he watched her eat, looking as happy as any fat cat who had finally gotten the canary, and he found himself making silent assurances himself that next time – if there was going to be a next time with her – he would be damn sure to take Beth out for dinner to a place without fluorescent lighting. Though he was pretty sure that even in the fluorescent lighting of the McDonald's, Beth Greene was still the prettiest thing in this whole world.

With his raise at work, maybe he'd be able to. Maybe, with his raise at work, he'd be able to do all sorts of things now. Things a man with the last name of Dixon had never really been able to do before. And maybe one of those things was take a pretty girl out on an actual date.

Daryl knew he couldn't really deny it anymore. He didn't know why and he sure as hell didn't know when it had happened but he sat there, watching her as she ate from her red carton of French fries, and he knew he wanted to take Beth out on a date. His first date with a girl ever and he wanted it to be with her.

He wondered if Beth would ever want to go out on a date with him.

He supposed he'd have to ask her.

Nah. He couldn't ask her, he was quick to remind himself. There was just no way this girl would want to. She had just gotten out of a relationship – a _bad_ relationship – and he didn't want to maybe trap her into something with him when she was feeling vulnerable. And even though he didn't want to, he found himself thinking about her ex. Zach. The clean-cut sort of boy who was going to college and no matter how much of an asshole he was and no matter how much he didn't deserve it, that kid was going to have a life with a good job who made good money and would be the sort to be able to afford everything.

Beth needed a guy like that. Not a guy who slapped her around but a guy who would be able to give her anything and everything. Definitely not a guy who was nothing more than some manager of some small warehouse in an even smaller town and who could only take her out to McDonald's when he wanted to take her out.

…

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 **Thank you so much for reading and please comment! I can't explain how proud I am of this story.**

 **I know it's not my strong suit but I think I'm going to attempt Beth's POV again in the next chapter.**


	11. Vanilla Bean Glazed

…

 **Chapter Eleven.** Vanilla Bean Glazed.

Beth woke up with a flush on her face and an ache between her thighs. This was the third time she had had _that_ dream and each time she woke, she had to lie in bed for a few more minutes with her eyes closed in an attempt to catch her breath.

But even lying there, now wide awake even with her eyes closed, she could still feel it; feel _him_ and he was everywhere. Her bed was small – just a double – and she could imagine how much smaller Daryl would make it if he was there with her.

And three times, she had dreamt that he was. His body tangled with her, his hands running down the sides of her body as his lips took liberty and dragged them everywhere he could. His hands gripped her hips as his face was pressed to her stomach, kissing her there and brushing his lips along her ribs and making her shiver and moan softly.

She imagined, she dreamt, that his facial hair would gently scratch her.

She wanted to kiss Daryl Dixon so badly but she always made sure to hold herself back from making a fool of herself and acting on her desire. She could just imagine the way he would push her away and why wouldn't he? She was just some stupid girl who dragged him into her messed up life without giving him much of a choice on the matter. He had no loyalty to her. No obligation. And yet, he remained and she wasn't quite too sure as to why. But she was too terrified to ever think of asking.

It had been just a few weeks since they had seen one another for the first time and already, she couldn't quite remember how everything had been before Daryl Dixon. He was surly and grouchy most of the time and didn't talk that much but there was just something about him that Beth couldn't get enough of. She wanted to be around him all of the time and when she wasn't, he was usually the main thing on her mind.

She wondered if he ever thought about her when they weren't together.

It wasn't as if she expected him to be having sex dreams about her but she hoped… she didn't know what she hoped.

She knew she liked him; wanted him. And she wanted to imagine him maybe wanting her in the same ways. She told herself not to hold her breath for it though. There was a particular way Daryl looked at her sometimes. Like she reminded him of someone and he didn't necessarily like the memories. Sometimes, she would catch him looking at her and his eyes would seem far away but his frown was heavily weighing down his lips. She wanted to ask what or who was on his mind but she knew that even if she asked, that would definitely be a question he wouldn't answer.

Beth knew absolutely nothing about Daryl Dixon except that he liked doughnuts and took his coffee black and he seemed to like birds and he worked in a warehouse. Other than that, she had to piece everything else together herself because he certainly wasn't the sort to just open up and tell her everything she wanted to know. And with Daryl, Beth definitely wanted to know everything.

Once her body had calmed down, Beth finally pulled herself from bed. She had a morning class to get ready for and then, that evening, she had her night class. She still didn't know what she was going to do about that. She had come so far and to just drop out of the education program now, when she was so close… maybe she could stick it out and get her education degree but that didn't mean that she had to be a teacher once she graduated. She had always though she wanted to be a music teacher but she just couldn't imagine it anymore. She used to think her future was so clear – especially when she met and began dating and falling in love with Zach.

She would graduate and become a music teacher – preferably at the nearby elementary school – and she would play piano and guitar and put on recitals with the children for beaming parents in the audience. And at night, she would be at home, writing and working on her own music and Zach would come home from his job at the fancy law firm he got a job at after graduation and they would spend their evenings together and it would be such a happy little life.

But obviously, that wasn't going to happen now and now, whenever Beth tried her hardest to imagine what her future would be like, she saw nothing but fog.

And Beth didn't know who in her life she could talk to about this. Her daddy, Maggie and Shawn would probably just tell her she was nervous as she got closer to the end of her college career and it was natural to have doubts about her life and she'd feel better about it in time. And all her friends were in the music education program with her and they seemed to have no doubts whatsoever about the path they had chosen. And Zach wasn't allowed within twenty feet of her and even if he was, she was never going to speak to him again.

She supposed there was Daryl but she shook her head at herself as soon as his name popped into her head. No, she couldn't talk to Daryl about this either. Most times, except when he was coming into the hardware store and asking her out to McDonald's or burying his face to the side of her neck, he seemed to barely be tolerating her. When she met him in the doughnut shop in the mornings and sat across from him, she talked and talked and he never said a word. He just looked at her and she could just imagine the way he was telling her to shut up in his head.

She took a shower and it was a brisk fall day outside that day so she bypassed shaving her legs. Instead, after drying her hair and braiding it and twisting it up, pinning it around her head, she pulled on a pair of grey tights and a dark maroon dress to wear. She tugged on her brown boots and grabbed a black cardigan sweater and her black fall coat. Out in the kitchen, she made herself a pot of coffee and poured it all into her thermos. She'd stop to eat something along the way.

Wednesday and Friday mornings, she had her global music studies class and in all four years of college, it was one of her favorite classes that she had ever taken. At the moment, they were learning about the music of the Appalachian Mountains and she found it utterly fascinating. The way these people lived so isolated and kept music alive from Great Britain from where they had immigrated and hadn't changed it hardly at all since the eighteenth century, Beth couldn't get enough of it.

The teacher had brought in some recordings and videos of Appalachian musicians and as soon as Beth heard the songs, she knew she wanted to learn them for herself.

She sat down in the middle row of the small lecture auditorium where class was held and as she was pulling out her notebook from her messenger bag, her friend, Amy Harris, plopped down beside her.

"Ugh. You look so damn cute today," Amy frowned at her.

Beth just smiled. "I just didn't feel like shaving my legs."

"Me, neither," Amy said and then lifted one pants leg of her black cotton pajama pants with the white skulls and crossbones on them and rubbed her hand up and down her calf, making Beth laugh. "We're seniors, Beth. Leave the dressing up to the freshmen who still give a crap."

Beth laughed again and shook her head. "I'm not _that_ dressed up, Amy."

"It looks like you're going on a date," Amy said and then looked at her for a moment. She gasped suddenly. "Are you going on a date? When? Today after class?" She then hissed in an excited whisper though Beth was still certain the others around them could still hear her.

"Of course I'm not," Beth couldn't help but frown a little. "After Zach, trust me. I won't be dating anyone for a very, _very_ long time."

 _Unless Daryl wants to take me to McDonald's again_ , a voice from the back of her head whispered to her and Beth frowned to herself. That hadn't been a date. That had been just him wanting to celebrate with someone because something good at happened to him at work. Daryl did not want to go out on dates with her. But didn't he have someone else in his life with who he would want to celebrate? He seemed to be friends with Sheriff Grimes. Why had he come to her?

And why did he give her a ride home after her night class and go to the police station with her and hold her hand and why did he bury his face in her neck as if he wanted to breathe in nothing but her scent for the rest of his life?

She hadn't been imagining any of that.

But maybe she was just reading too much into it because he seemed to frown all of the time when she was around him.

Daryl Dixon was just very talented at confusing the hell out of her.

After the class let out for the day, Beth and Amy walked out of the room and down the stairs, heading for outside. As soon as they were on the top step, Amy pulled a pack of cigarettes from her purse and lit one, turning her head so she didn't exhale the stream of smoke in Beth's direction.

"I have a vocal lesson I have to get to," Amy said before taking another drag.

Beth pursed her lips together to keep from laughing. Amy smoked like a chimney but it worked for her because when she sang, it gave her that sultry lounge singer voice that drove some people crazy. Amy would probably never give smoking up because of that. Beth thought Amy was a great singer but it definitely wasn't for her. When she sang, her own voice was clear and concise and everyone always understood her. Her music was as far from lounge music as the sound could get.

"I'll see you in class tonight," Amy said as she bounced down the steps and Beth felt her smile fade from her face at the words.

She really didn't want to think about class tonight. Was she really going to torture herself in going there for three hours when she didn't even know if that was something she wanted to do? She wished she knew exactly what she wanted to do because before she did, yes. She was going to go and sit through a three hour class she hated because she didn't know what else she was doing.

She headed down the stairs and one of the paths that led off campus. There was a small deli in the downtown business district that sold all sorts of sandwiches and salads and she stood in the lunch line, looking at the chalkboard menus, trying to decide what she wanted. And then she couldn't help but begin to wonder what Daryl would like to eat. He got an hour for lunch – noon to one. She knew because she had asked him Monday morning when they had met at the doughnut shop. No longer working nights, they were able to meet at the somewhat decent hour of six.

He had grunted where he worked and what his hours were when she asked and she memorized the information as soon as he told her.

She had a car but the only times where she really ever drove it were when she was heading out to the farm or heading into Atlanta with her friends. Other than that, the town was small enough to walk everywhere and Beth enjoyed the fresh air. After picking two sandwiches at random as well as a bag of potato chips and a beautiful looking red Macintosh apple, Beth left the deli and began her walk across town.

She headed into the office's front door, a small sensor dinging out at her arrival. It was quiet and she couldn't see anyone because of the cubicles but then a man popped up as if a gopher coming out of his hole. He was around her age – probably a few years older with mousy brown hair – tousled from probably having run his fingers through it continuously – and his tie was hanging loosely around his neck.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

"I'm looking for Daryl," Beth said. "I wasn't sure he was here because of lunch…" she noted how quiet the office was and figured that most everyone was out to lunch.

"This way," the man said, stepping out of his cubicle and beginning to walk towards the back of the office and Beth skipped a couple of steps to catch up.

He led her through a door that opened up to the back of a warehouse with rows of tall metal shelving, filled with all different sizes and colored boxes.

"Daryl!" The man called out.

From one of the rows, Daryl popped his head out and Beth smiled the instant she saw him. His eyes landed on her immediately and she kept smiling as he stepped out, a clipboard in his hand. He wore jeans and a dark blue tee-shirt with the white "GE" General Electric logo on the left breast. Beth tried not to stare at his biceps.

"Thanks, Spencer," Daryl grunted after a moment of staring at her and neither she nor Daryl turned to watch Spencer leaver the warehouse, closing the door behind him. "Wasn' expectin' you," he then said to her.

"I know," Beth said. "I hope I'm not bothering you. I got out of class and thought I would bring you lunch. Have you already eaten?" She asked as she held up the brown paper bag from the deli.

Daryl looked at the bag as if he had never heard of such a thing and Beth felt as if she was holding her breath because she knew that he was probably going to refuse her. But then he shook his head.

"Thanks," he grunted and Beth couldn't help but beam.

There was a counter near the front of the warehouse where customers could come and pick up their products if they didn't want to wait for the company truck to deliver them. There was a computer system and a stack of papers as well as a roll of packaging tape. Beth sat down on one of the two stools there and Daryl sat on the other. She could feel his eyes on her as she set the bag down on the counter.

"I wasn't too sure what you liked so I went as simple as I could. Ham and cheese," she said and pulled out one of the sandwiches wrapped in wax paper. She handed it to him and watched as he took it and she wondered if he made the conscious effort to make sure that their fingers _didn't_ touch.

"Thanks," he said again. "Ham and cheese is actually my favorite."

Beth smiled at that. Ham and cheese. She'd remember that, too.

"You didn' have to do this though," he said, still holding his sandwich, not unwrapping it, looking at her instead.

"I know, but I wanted to," she said with a slight shrug. "I also brought you chips and an apple. No dessert though. The deli sells brownies but I think they're way too overpriced and not that good. I can make much better brownies than that."

"You didn' have to bring dessert. Prob'ly should be watchin' it anyway. I've been eatin' too many doughnuts," Daryl said with a small smirk and Beth laughed at that.

She nearly told him that he was the most handsome man she'd ever see and he definitely didn't have to worry about something as stupid as weight but she thankfully was able to swallow the words down before she could give them voice.

"How's work going?" She asked, swiftly switching topics in an effort to save herself as she unwrapped her own tuna salad sandwich.

He had just taken a big bite of his sandwich and he waited until he chewed and swallowed before answering. "The guy before, he knew he was settin' to walk out so everythin' in here just went to hell. Gonna take me a while to set it right again."

"You'll do it," Beth said in a confident voice. "Your boss knew what he was doing when he put you in charge out here."

He wasn't looking at her, his eyes lowered, but she swore that she saw the tips of his ears poking out through his hair turning red, as if he was embarrassed with her compliment. He took another bite of sandwich and they were quiet for a few minutes. Beth took the time to look around though there wasn't that much to look at. Just a large warehouse that sold electrical supplies.

"Don't know product that real good yet," he spoke again and she instantly set her eyes on him. But he was still staring down at the sandwich in his hands. "And there's a ton of paperwork I don't think I'll ever get through." He glanced towards the stack of paper beside the computer's keyboard before taking another bite and her eyes followed his gaze.

She couldn't help but frown when she looked. It was a rather thick stack of paper.

She took one more bite of her sandwich and then set it aside, wiping her fingers and standing up. Daryl turned on his stool to look at her as she walked around him to stand at the counter. She looked down at the stack of papers, still frowning. And then with a deep, determined breath, she looked at the first paper on top. She then moved it aside to look at the second. She then began flipping through the entire stack, her eyes quickly taking in the list of seemingly meaningless words and numbers listed on every one.

"Beth-" Daryl began to protest, getting to his feet.

But Beth ignored him and continued until she had gone through the entire stack. "Okay," she then took a deep breath. "This is easy," she told him, looking up at him.

He stood beside her with his brow furrowed but she smiled despite that.

"Really. It's easy. This is what we'll do," she said and then looked through the stack until she found the paper she was looking for. She held it up for Daryl to see. "See this one? It's…" she read the title. "Daily customer report. Every daily customer reports ends in 445. See?" She held it out for him and he took it, looking it over, and she then handed him another and another. "It looks like each customer has a number and this is what that particular customer bought that day. We'll put all of these in one stack. And then… daily inventory report. This one ends in 756 and it looks like a list of everything the warehouse sold that day. This is another stack and definitely the one that's important to you."

She could feel Daryl's eyes on her – never leaving her – as she talked through each report as if she knew exactly what they were but she supposed the title across the top was rather self-explanatory. There were so many though, it wasn't hard to see how Daryl had gotten overwhelmed at just the sight of them.

Feeling his eyes on her, Beth felt both like shivering and like she felt a flush spread across her cheeks. She wondered if he knew that it was because of him. She didn't doubt that he was able to see the color on her cheeks that hadn't been there just moments before. But she stood there and was very aware of his presence next to her. He was so close, she could feel the warmth from his body; could almost feel the front of him brushing against her arm. Beth heard herself wishing as hard as she could – harder than she could ever remember wishing for something before – that his body would brush against hers.

But unfortunately, Daryl seemed very aware of where her body was and he seemed to be making a very conscious effort to not put himself too close to her. And she hated for being so disappointed. Of course he wasn't going to put himself too close to her and she had to stop expecting him to make a move.

They worked together for a half hour, making different stacks, separating all of the reports and when they were done, it was ten minutes until one and they had five different, much smaller and manageable stacks.

Beth looked at him and smiled. "There," she announced. "Much better."

Daryl looked at the paperwork for a moment and then looked at her, shaking his head with a small smirk. "'m thinkin' I need to take you out to dinner again. To thank you for helpin' me with this," he said.

"You don't have to thank me, Daryl," Beth shook her own head. "We're friends and friends help each other."

Daryl looked at her and didn't say anything and she wondered if she had just made some huge blunder in calling them friends; in putting any type of label onto this. She didn't want to be friends but what she wanted was just never going to happen. She recalled her dream the night before of Daryl's body over hers, his breathing heavy and warm on her skin, his hands digging into her helps, his face buried in her stomach as he inhaled her scent. She had that dream and she couldn't wait to go to sleep at night in hopes of having that dream again.

She couldn't have that so she could only hope that they could be friends.

Beth wondered if something was wrong with her. If she was one of those girls. One of those girls who always had to be with a guy. She had just gotten out of a serious relationship. Her boyfriend had slapped her and she had gone to the police and she knew she should have just been on her own for a while. She _knew_ that. She told herself that. But whenever she was around Daryl, she couldn't help it. She could so easily imagine herself being with him and it would be a good relationship because Daryl was a good man. She may not have known nearly enough about him but she already knew that – without a doubt. A man who didn't want her walking alone at night and held her hand at the police station when she needed him and took her to McDonald's was nothing but a good man.

But she couldn't be with him. She knew that. She had to be on her own for a while.

"What's your favorite candy bar?" Daryl asked her suddenly and she looked at him, blinking as if she didn't understand the question and for a moment, she didn't because it was so random and out of the blue.

But then she remembered herself. "Um… Kit-Kat," she said.

"Wait here," Daryl said and Beth watched as he walked from the counter and headed towards the warehouse door that led into the office.

He was gone for a few minutes and she stood there, having absolutely no idea what to do. She looked at the clock on the bottom right hand corner of the computer screen. There ere just a few short minutes left of Daryl's lunch hour and she supposed she had to go so he could get back to work.

Almost reluctantly, she grabbed her messenger bag and slung it back on over her head so the strap was across her chest. She then wrapped the remainder of her sandwich in the wax paper and wondered where Daryl had gone. She wondered if she should just leave.

But as she was debating with herself, the warehouse door opened again and Daryl came back. She watched as he walked towards her and good god, that man had an insanely good body. Lean but muscular and powerful legs and muscular arms and she had never been as close to a man like him as she was now. No wonder she was having less than pure dreams about this man hovering above her in her bed.

"Here, "Daryl said once he was close enough to her and he held out a Kit-Kat bar in his hand for her to take.

A giggle bubbled from her throat as she took it from him and she made sure that her fingers brushed along his.

"Thanks for helpin' me. I couldn' have done this on my own," he said.

"Yes, you could have," she said with confidence and Daryl stared at her as if he had never heard words like that before in his life. She gave him a small smile. "I should head out before I get you in trouble with your boss."

Daryl nodded and didn't argue and he took a step back as Beth walked past him to walk around the counter.

"Find out where your office supplies are kept," she added, quickly looking back towards him and she really didn't want to leave him even though she knew she had to. "You're going to need file folders to keep all of those reports separate."

Daryl nodded and his eyes never left hers as she took backward steps towards the front door, not wanting to turn and break their eye contact yet.

"Got your night class tonight?" He asked.

She nodded. "Every Wednesday."

Daryl nodded, too. "See you at eight then."

Her smile grew and her stomach fluttered at just the idea of seeing him again in just a few more hours. "See you at eight," Beth said and she could have sworn that she saw him smiling a little, too.

…

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 **Thank you so much for reading and please review!**

 **I hate putting long notes like this but since there were so many comments about it, I lowered Daryl's raise to thirty dollars. After college, I worked for a couple of years at General Electric and I know that the warehouse guy made serious bank. It was hard to find someone willing to do such a demanding and physical job and it seemed like it was hard to find someone who could pass random drug tests. I think Daryl would be perfect working in that warehouse :)**

 **Also, the next update is going to be an entire chapter flashback of Chris and Liv. It's important to the story.**


	12. Old-Fashioned

**A short interlude and we will return to Daryl's POV in the next chapter. I don't like to treat my readers like idiots but there is a reason why I think writing and showing Grandpa Chris and Grandma Liv is important to this story and hopefully, that will reveal itself in time.**

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…

 **Chapter Twelve.** Old-Fashioned.

She was sixteen and it was time for her to leave. She couldn't remember exactly who's idea it had been. Maybe her mama and dad's or maybe her own but it didn't matter because she had known since she was thirteen that someday, she would have to leave home.

She was nervous, of course. She had never left home. Had never even been outside of the county and she didn't know how the world was once she left the mountains but she had to go and find out and try her best to get a better life than the one she had. She loved her parents and her brothers and sisters and her dad and ma did the best they could but her dad mined coal and there were too many mouths to feed and there never seemed to be any money. As the oldest, it was only natural she would be the first to leave and she couldn't be angry or sad or scared about that.

It took the family three years of scrimping and saving but they finally had enough for a bus ticket. She didn't know where she wanted to go so she just looked at the map of the country in the bus station when she and her dad went to buy the ticket and chose a random city. Atlanta, Georgia. Sounded as good a place as any and the destination didn't make the ticket too much.

The morning she was scheduled to leave, she grabbed her other dress – her mama had scrubbed it clean the day before – and the bar of soap and headed outside to the small creek behind the house where all of the family did their washing. It was just dawn and the water was freezing, her teeth chattering the whole time as she tried to wash herself as quickly as she could.

Her mama had done her best to make a special breakfast and she sat at the table with her family, her littlest brother sitting her lap, and they ate biscuits and gravy and none talked about how she was leaving home later that morning. No one, not mama or dad or even her, knew when or if she would be coming back.

But it was okay. She told herself that again and again. It was okay. When she left, her parents would have one less child to worry about maybe starving or being too cold. She was sixteen-years-old. She wasn't a little girl anymore. She was Liv Sparrow and she was brave enough to do anything in the world.

…

She said goodbye to all of her brothers and sisters with tight hugs and kisses on their heads and some of them cried and others were too little to really understand. Her mama hugged her tightly but her eyes were dry. Her mama was a tough woman. She had to be. Liv couldn't remember ever seeing her mama cry before.

Her dad took her one little suitcase that held all her possessions in the world and put it in the back bed of the pickup truck and as he drove away, Liv stuck herself out the front window and waved at her family, two of her brothers running after the truck in their bare feet, until her dad turned on a bend in the road and she could no longer see any of them.

At the bus station, it was her dad with tears in his eyes as they hugged one another tightly and Liv squeezed her eyes shut to keep from crying.

"Remember your prayers and remember that you're a Sparrow," he said and she nodded and he kissed her on the forehead. "Write to us," he added and she nodded again, her eyes still squeezed shut, still feeling the burning in the back of her throat.

He stayed with her until the bus arrived and she climbed on, choosing a seat in the very front, right behind the driver. Her dad stood and he waved and as the bus began pulling away, that was when she finally allowed herself to begin to cry.

…

A kind old woman who got on the bus in Tennessee have some apples and she gave one to Liv. A beautiful large golden apple and Liv thanked her over and over again and wondered if the woman had been able to hear her stomach grumbling because she handed Liv another apple.

"For later," she smiled and Liv smiled, too, tucking it safely away into her case.

They stopped at the gas station – pit stop for twenty minutes, the bus driver announced – and Liv stepped down, not wanting to wander off too far. She looked around and they weren't in the mountains anymore but there were still little hills and she wondered if she should just stop here. It seemed nice enough. But the gas station attendant was giving her a smile that showed too many teeth and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and she hurried back onto the bus again.

…

They stopped again just as they crossed over into Georgia and the instant Liv stepped off the bus, she felt like she was home. Mountains. Actual mountains. Not as great and grand as the Appalachians but they were still mountains and she took a big whiff of air as if the air was somehow clearer here.

Inside the gas station, she saw a sign that said Fairmount and there was a small carousel beside the cash register that sold post cards. She picked one up of a range of mountains and she looked out the window to look at the landscape before looking at the young man who was working behind the counter.

"Are these the same mountains?" She asked.

"Yep," he nodded. "The Blue Mountains."

Liv felt his eyes on her as she looked down the postcard again.

"You're not from around here," he then said and Liv looked at him. He was a handsome boy. Probably a man. A few years older than her with mousy brown hair and scruffy face from clearly not shaving that day. He was tall, lean and tanned. Liv hadn't ever seen a man so handsome. "Your accent, 's damn thick. Took my ears a second to adjust to it."

Liv felt her face flush at that. She hadn't thought of her voice. She was used to everyone talking like she did but she was far from home now and she had to remember that.

"Kentucky," she said, her eyes falling to the postcard again. It was only a penny but she didn't have a penny to waste. She had to be careful of the few dollars she had and she had to find a job right away.

"I'm sorry," the young man was quick to say. "I didn't mean to make fun of you. I understood you just fine."

She didn't say anything. She just nodded and put the postcard back in its place and then without looking at him again, she turned and left the gas station.

She stood and looked to the mountains. Fairmount. It sounded as good a place as any. And if it wasn't, she had two feet and she was capable of walking to the next place. She just had to try her luck and see where it took her.

She went to the bus driver to tell him that she was staying and he nodded, reaching into the pouch on his belt and pulled out a dollar to refund the rest of her ticket since she was no longer continuing all the way to Atlanta. Liv clutched the dollar tightly. She'd be able to get something for dinner now.

"Hey!"

She turned instantly and saw the young man rushing out of the gas station towards her. She instinctively took a step back as he came to stand before her.

"I really am sorry," he said. "Here," he then held out what she recognized to be the postcard she had been looking at inside. "I bought it for you."

She had been ready to refuse it but he kept holding it out for her to take and he kept looking at her and she looked at him, noting how dark a brown his eyes were.

"Thank you," she said softly so her accent wasn't as obvious.

She reached out slowly to take the postcard from him and when their fingertips brushed together, she felt almost a jolt as if he had shocked her. She lifted her eyes to see if maybe he had felt it, too, and he was already staring at her, making her think that he had definitely felt it, too.

"I'm Chris Harper," he said, keeping his hand stuck out.

Liv shook it and against, felt that same shock. She didn't understand what it was but she wasn't afraid of it. She had been around boys _and_ men before. She may have been dirt poor and had never been away from the mountains before but she wasn't completely naïve. But she had never felt anything like this before when around the opposite sex again. And if anything, she felt the need to feel this again and again.

"Liv Sparrow," she said, speaking a little louder but still now quite aware of her accent. She had to remember that she wasn't in Kentucky anymore.

Chris smiled and she immediately noted how handsome and straight his smile was.

"Olivia?" He guessed and she smiled, shaking her head.

She always smiled with her lips pursed. She was always subconscious of her teeth – even with everyone else around her having even worse teeth than hers. And now that she had seen Chris's teeth, she definitely didn't want him to see hers.

"Olive," she answered and when he smiled bigger at her, she felt that shock again even without them touching each other this time.

…

Chris had an older sister and brother-in-law who owned a little motel in town and Chris took her to meet them.

Within just hours of deciding to stay in Fairmount, Georgia, Liv had a job as the motel maid and her very own little room to stay in. She couldn't get over the bathroom. There had been no running water or even electricity in most of the homes in the county back home and she had spent her entire life bathing herself in the creek and going to the bathroom in the outhouse.

But here, she could go to the bathroom whenever she wanted without having to tug on her shoes and worrying about freezing. The first shower she took in her life, she was almost afraid of it until she stood beneath the warm water and before she knew it, she had been in there for almost a half hour.

Fairmount was a poor little town but it wasn't the kind of poor she was used to. People here were poor but they still had jobs and roofs over their head and food in their bellies. People here were able to turn on a lamp at night and watch their television. She had never seen a television until that afternoon as she walking down the sidewalk with Chris and they passed a small appliance store. There were four televisions in the large front-plate window and she had stopped in her trackers, staring at the boxes with the black and white images and hardly able to blink. No one she knew had a television. The little general store back home only had a radio.

Chris realized she wasn't walking with him anymore and he came back to stand beside her. He glanced towards the television and then to her. "You like this program?" He asked her.

Liv shook her head, not looking away from it. "I have no idea."

…

She settled into her new life quickly. She cleaned every room in the motel top to bottom every day. She worked hard. She was a Sparrow and Sparrows weren't lazy.

There were a couple of people who lived there seemingly permanently – Chester Cline who always smelled like whiskey but was nothing but friendly to her. He always had a stick of cinnamon gum to give her every day. And then Martin Beech in the other room. He was a quiet man, hardly ever saying a word, and Chris's sister, Barb, said that Martin had a terrible stutter and had been tormented so much during his childhood over it, he had practically become a mute. Liv always made sure she smiled warmly at Martin whenever she saw him.

And then there was Chris, coming to see her every day, pulling into the motel lot and hopping out of his truck, grinning the second he saw her and she blushed every single time. He worked at the gas station part time and the rest of the time, he worked with his uncle, fixing broken down farm equipment for the farmers in the area and he sometimes showed up with stains of oil on his hands or streaks on his face and the sight always gave her that little shock.

He sometimes brought her bottles of Coca-Cola or chocolate bars and he was always wanting to take her out to the diner for supper or to the movie theater. She grew to not be shy talking to him and exposing her accent.

Once he saw her reaction to the television, he couldn't wait to see her reaction to seeing a movie in the theater and she hadn't disappointed. She had sat, stone-still in her seat the entire time, hardly blinking as she stared at the screen for the entire movie. And having seen one movie, she now wanted to see as many as she could. Chris had laughed and nodded, telling her he'd take her to every movie the little theater showed.

She wondered if Chris was courting her but this wasn't like back home where boys came and sat on the front porch with the girl while her parents were keeping watch from inside the home.

She didn't even know if boys courted girls in Fairmount, Georgia or if they did something here she didn't even know about. There was so much about the world she didn't know about but she wanted to learn and see it all.

The first time Chris kissed her, he was walking her back to the motel after getting ice cream and she held a strawberry ice cream cone in her hand, talking about all of the chestnut trees around her house back home, and he leaned in suddenly and kissed her, cutting her off mid-word. But she didn't mind. She instantly kissed him back, pushing herself up on her toes to make herself more his height.

She always thought that she would return to Appalachia someday and live out the rest of her life there, thinking it would only be the only home she would ever know no matter how long she stayed away.

But as Chris kissed her and his arms slowly circled around her waist, Liv began to think that maybe, she could make a home for herself here in Georgia and it could be as good as any life she had imagined for herself before.

Maybe it could be even better.

…

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 **Thank you very much for reading and please review!**


	13. Powdered Sugar

**I have been waiting for this chapter. I hope you love it as much as I do.**

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…

 **Chapter Thirteen.** Powdered Sugar.

"You alright?" Rick asked, shaking Daryl from his thoughts, and he lifted his eyes to see the other man holding out a can of beer for him to take. Daryl nodded, taking the cold Bud can from him, and he popped the tab as Rick sat down once more in the lawn chair beside him with his own can of beer. "Thinking about Beth?" He then asked and Daryl instantly turned his head towards him so quickly, he thought he heard his neck crack at the suddenness of the movement.

"Why the hell would I be thinkin' 'bout her?" Daryl asked, his voice rougher than usual after not using it for a while.

He had come to the Grimes house to look at a car that Rick had bought his son, Carl. The kid was just days away from getting his license and this was a present from both Rick and Lori. When Rick was a teenager, his parents had bought him an old junker car and that's what Rick had done for Carl. He admitted though that he didn't know anything about cars and had asked Daryl to come and look it over.

Rick just smiled a little and shrugged. "If I was single, I think it would be hard to get myself to stop thinking about a girl like Beth Greene."

Daryl didn't say anything to that. He sat there and stared straight ahead, watching little Judith Grimes giggle as she played in her playhouse. Kid was three-years-old and the clumsiest damn thing Daryl had ever seen. She was constantly tripping over her own feet but she was always smiling and laughing as she did. Even a baby fawn had better control of their legs than Judith Grimes did.

He didn't dare look at Rick because what the man had said had been too damn true. He _had_ been thinking about Beth. He seemed to be thinking about her all of the time. He wasn't going to say something so asinine and say he had a crush on her. He was too damn old to be getting crushes and too damn old to be getting a crush on _her_. She was still in college for fuck's sake. He had no business even thinking about her in passing let alone thinking about her as often as he seemed to be doing lately.

He tried to get her out of his head. He really did try. But so many things reminded him of her throughout his day. Ever since she came to see him at the warehouse during his lunch hour and helped him with all of his paperwork, he now thought of her every morning when he received his new stack of daily reports. He had talked to the woman in the office in charge of the day to day operations – Rosita – and she had given him an entire box of file folders. She had smiled and said that if he wanted different colored ones, she could order those for him and for a split second, he almost told her to because he could imagine that Beth would love to have each report in a different colored folder but he told Rosita the manila ones were fine.

Daryl knew that Beth thought what she had done wasn't that big of a deal but Daryl knew that if she hadn't come and had started to help him with that stack, he never would have gotten through it and would probably never even understand what it all was. He knew there was a grace period and he could ask any of the people in the office for help but at the same, he was a Dixon and if history in his family showed anything, it was that Dixons really never wanted to ask for help from anyone.

He wondered what he could do for her more than just giving her a stupid Kit-Kat from the vending machine in the break room to thank her but he was coming up blank. He knew what should be done. Take her out to some nice restaurant for dinner and treat the whole damn night like a date because that's what it would be – at least to him – and he could just imagine Beth treating the whole thing so casually and never once looking to it as a date and Daryl didn't want to open himself up like that just to be disappointed. He had been disappointed so many times in his life and he didn't feel like having that blow dealt once more. Of course Beth wouldn't look at anything with him as a date because why the hell would she ever want to go out on a date with _him_?

"'s stupid," Daryl heard himself grunt.

Rick looked to him. "Why would it be stupid if you were thinking about Beth?"

Daryl looked at him silently for a moment. "Have you seen that girl?"

Rick smiled a little. "Like I said, if I weren't a married man in love with my wife…"

"Even if you were married and hit on her, you'd have a better shot at her than me," Daryl frowned and then looked back to watching Judith play and he took a quick sip of his beer. From the corner of his eye, he could feel Rick looking at him but Daryl didn't want to talk about this anymore.

He didn't need Rick to blow smoke up his ass and tell him what a good guy he was and a catch and how any girl would be lucky to have him. Daryl knew it would all be bullshit and he would never believe that so why waste the air in telling that to him?

He really needed to stop thinking about that girl because she was slowly driving him crazy and he wanted his mind back to himself. He had to stop thinking about her smile and the way her eyes seemed to twinkle whenever she looked at him or the pale pinkness of her lips or the way she had smelled like sunshine and sugar when he buried his face in her throat. And he _really_ didn't want to think about why he had done that. She had never asked and they had never talked about it and Daryl was grateful for that because he still had no idea why he had done that.

He thought the same thing he had been thinking for a while about this girl.

Beth Greene was twisting everything up and turning everything upside down.

Daryl finished the can of beer in a few more swigs and then stood up. "Come on. We got a lil' bit more to do on that engine," he said, barely glancing at Rick before turning and walking away. He heard Rick get up behind him and follow after him and thankfully, Rick was smart enough to be quiet for the rest of the afternoon – at least about all matters that had to do with Beth Greene.

Lori invited him to stay for dinner and even when he said that he couldn't, she didn't let him go until he promised he'd come for dinner sometime that week.

He had ridden his truck to the Grimes' house that afternoon – the air a bit biting to ride his motorcycle – and he drove it back towards home now. It was a pretty day – the air cold but the sun bright as it shined amongst cotton ball puffs of white clouds. People were out, doing their Saturday shopping, and one head of blonde in particular caught his eye and held his attention. He almost wanted to smirk to himself. Of course he would see her. Why the fuck wouldn't he? And why the fuck wouldn't he slow down to a stop and give his horn a sharp honk?

Beth leapt in surprise and she spun instantly towards the noise. And the instant she saw him, the brightest smile bloomed across her face. She quickly looked both ways before hurrying into the street and around the front of the truck. He leaned over and unlocked the passenger door so she could climb in.

"Hi!" She greeted, slightly breathless, and he checked his mirror before pulling back into the lane and heading in the direction he had been doing in.

"Where to?" He asked, trying not to look at her from the corner of his eye.

He hadn't seen her since yesterday morning when they had eaten doughnuts at T-Dog's shop as they did most mornings and he wondered what she did with her days besides go to class and work a couple of days a week at the hardware store.

"I reserved one of the practice rooms in the music building for the afternoon," she answered, still smiling. "Where are you off to?"

"Home. Was helpin' Rick with the car he got for his son's sixteenth," Daryl said, making sure his eyes kept straight ahead. He didn't want to look at the jeans Beth was wearing that day – so tight on her, she probably looked like a snake shedding off a layer of skin when she took them off.

"You don't have to give me a ride, Daryl," she said as he came to a stop at a red light. "I know the campus is in the completely opposite direction of where you need to go."

Daryl just ignored her and kept driving and after a moment, Beth seemed to realize that he was going to keep driving her and that was that. She settled back on the bench seat and there was a silence between them but Daryl realized, after a moment, he wasn't uncomfortable by it. It didn't make him tense or make him want to brace because he didn't know when the impact was coming.

He almost shook his head at himself. Of course he was comfortable with Beth. Was he even surprised with that? And he knew the answer. No, he wasn't surprised. This girl had somehow squirmed her way into his life and it looked like she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. But did he really want her to?

And he already knew the answer to that one, too.

It took him a moment but he realized that Beth was humming a song and it took him another moment to identify it. He actually knew it. he just hadn't heart it years and for a second, he didn't know if he was actually hearing it now. Maybe he was just imagining that it was the song Beth was humming but why the hell would he imagine that? He hadn't heard or thought of that song in years.

His throat went dry and his fingers subconsciously tightened around the wheel as Beth kept humming, completely unaware to his reaction to her song choice.

"You can turn here and drop me off in this little lot. The music building's right there," Beth said, directing him with a finger pointed out the front windshield.

He didn't say anything as he found a spot and pulled in between the white lines. He turned off the engine and sat there for a moment as he listened to Beth gathering her things from beside him.

"You didn't have to park," she began to say.

He ignored her comment as he tended to do when she said something that he didn't agree with but didn't feel needed an actual response. "That song… what were you hummin'?" He asked, his voice sounding hoarse.

"Oh," she laughed then a little and blushed as if embarrassed. "It was terrible, I know. I'm still learning the right keys. I'm rambling. It's _Barbara Allen_. It's a ballad from 17th century England and was brought to this country, usually found in-"

"Appalachia," Daryl finished for her quietly, almost in a whisper.

"Yes," Beth smiled widely and Daryl blinked at her. "Do you know it? The song, not Appalachia," she quickly clarified herself.

Yeah, he knew it. He knew both.

He slowly pulled the keys from the ignition and looked at them down in his hands. God, how long had it been? Had to be thirty years give or take a few. Had he really not heard it in all this time? And of every song, why had Beth been humming that one? It's not like she knew. How in the hell would she know something like that?

He swallowed the thickness in his throat. "My grandma… was from eastern Kentucky. Grew up in those mountains. Used to sing me that song all of the time when I was a lil' kid. Was her favorite."

"I loved it the second my professor played a recording of it in class."

Beth reached into her messenger bag and pulled out a paperback book with dozens of different colored post-its sticking out from the pages. Daryl caught the title on the front cover. _Music of the World_. Beth then flipped it open to a chapter marked with a blue post it and then held it out across the seat for Daryl to see. _Music of the Mountains_ was the title of the chapter and she kept holding it out for him to take. But he didn't and eventually, realizing that he wouldn't, she set the book on the seat between them. She turned a bit more towards him and tucked hair that had fallen loose from her ponytail behind her ears.

"Have you ever been to Appalachia?" She asked.

"My grandma was gonna take me when I was lil'. But then she died," he said and he didn't know why he told her anything about Grandma Liv but it was as if she had asked and he felt the need that he had to answer because this was Beth.

"I'm so sorry," she said and he wasn't looking at her, still looking down at the keys in his hands, but he could hear it in her tone. She really was sorry.

He shrugged. "s' what grandmas do. They die."

"That doesn't make it any easier," she said in such a soft and gentle voice, it almost made him want to close his eyes and press his face to her throat again.

He kept staring down at the keys in his hands and he didn't know what to say. He never talked about Grandma Liv even though since meeting Beth, he had been thinking of the woman so much more. Was Beth like Liv or like his mom? Did it really matter anymore? All he knew was that he wanted to kiss her and he definitely hadn't wanted to do that with his mom or grandma. He wasn't _that_ fucked up.

He felt the air catch in his throat when Beth suddenly reached out and her hand covered one of his. He didn't move and he stared down at it. Her hand was so soft and so pale with these dainty little fingers and he could see his own beneath it. Tanned and hard with a little bit of engine grease that he hadn't been able to completely scrub from the skin.

What the hell did this girl think when she looked at him? What the hell did she think when she looked down and saw their hands touching, so damn different? What had she thought when they held hands in the police station or she hugged him and he buried his face in her throat? Did she think what he always thought?

That he was way too damn dirty to even think about touching this girl? What would she think if she knew that all he wanted to do in this big huge world was touch her?

"Do you know the words?" He heard himself ask her, his head lifting, looking at her through strands of his too long hair.

Beth looked at him for a moment as if she was looking for the answer to a question he didn't even know and then she gave her head a slight nod. "Would you like me to sing it?" She asked with a small smile.

Daryl didn't say anything. He didn't even nod. He just kept looking at her and he couldn't look away but why the hell would he want to look away from her? He had a piece of sunshine sitting with him in the front seat of his truck and he didn't know how he had gotten her there. He didn't know why she always seemed so willing to spend her time with him. He knew he didn't do much of anything except grunt and frown at her. Did she look at him as if he was some white fucking knight, swooping in and saving her from the prick boyfriend?

Maybe that's all this was; all _they_ were. A girl who felt she owed him something.

He started to frown at that thought but then Beth opened her mouth and she began to sing and all thoughts fled from Daryl's mind in those first few words.

" _Twas in the merry month of May,_

 _When green buds all were swelling._

 _Sweet William on his death-bed lay,_

 _For the love of Barbara Allen._

 _He sent his servant to the town,_

 _To the place where she was dwelling._

 _Saying, You must come to my master dear,_

 _If your name be Barbara Allen."_

And he didn't think about it. He didn't even think that he meant to do it but as Beth's voice washed over him, everything else just dropped away from him and Daryl felt his eyes sliding closed. The world outside of the truck just completely disappeared. There was nothing right now except him and Beth in this truck and this song. _This_ song that as soon as he heard Beth sing the opening verse, he remembered every single word. Just like that.

With his eyes closed, he could see Grandma Liv standing in front of him.

Grandma Liv had been a young mom and a young grandma – with Merle anyway. By the time he came around, her strawberry blonde hair was home to more grey and the freckles on her face were all but gone. He used to have light hair when he was younger. Like his mom. Like his grandma. But as he got older, it got darker until it was a dark shade just like his dad's. And now, he thought he looked more like Will Dixon than he ever looked like anyone else.

It was his curse, Daryl guessed. As if being a Dixon wasn't shitty enough. He had to go through his life looking like that son of a bitch.

But right now, Will Dixon wasn't the one on his mind. Neither was his mom. Right now, with Beth's voice in his ears, he was only thinking about Grandma Liv. Grandma Liv standing at the end of the driveway with him, waiting for the yellow school bus to come and pick him up, making sure he had his lunch, and she told him that he had to eat all of his carrot sticks or he wouldn't get dessert tonight and he better not even think about giving them to another kid because she would know.

Grandma Liv grabbing his hands and pulling him in circles around the living room, laughing and singing and trying her best at teaching him how to dance though Daryl grumbled the whole time even though silently, he did want to learn.

Grandma Liv with her teas and her pies and her meatloaf and always making sure Daryl ate breakfast and had lunch at school and a warm dinner in his belly at night. Grandma Liv who kissed and hugged him and made sure that she told him that she loved him and that he knew he was loved as often as she could because although she loved her daughter, she had known that Anne hadn't done that nearly enough.

Grandma Liv sitting on her rocking chair on the front porch in the evenings, talking about Kentucky and the mountains and her life with Grandpa Chris and stories of Anne when she was a little girl and Daryl would sit there, practicing his whittling on little pieces of wood and listening to every word she said. Grandma Liv singing songs she had learned from her own mom when she was a little girl.

God, he had loved that woman. More than Merle or his own mom. The times he had spent with Grandma Liv had been the best times in his life and living with her for that moment after his mom died, he had dared to think that his life was finally turning out alright and that from now on, everything would be alright.

He had been so sad when his mom died but when Grandma Liv died… something inside of him died right along with her and when he went to live with his dad and things in his life went from shitty to shittier, he began to shut down and turn himself numb and he told himself that missing Grandma Liv wasn't going to help him so he best not even think about her anymore.

But then he saw Beth for the first time and met her and started to have this girl around almost every day of his life and she brought back all of these memories of his mom and his grandma that he thought he had forced himself to forget so long ago.

He didn't know if he was pissed about that or not. He didn't know if he had wanted to keep forgetting or if he actually wanted to remember again. Forgetting all of that had helped him survive.

The ballad was a long one and when Beth began nearing the end, Daryl opened his eyes again, turning his head to look at her, and Beth's own eyes were closed as she sang, as if she was concentrating on remembering all of the words. Grandma Liv would have loved this girl and she would have been so proud of Daryl for having this girl in his life.

But he didn't have her. She was just a girl. A girl he couldn't stop thinking about and who he imagined having all sorts of things with and doing all sorts of things with that he had never thought about towards any other girl before. And if he could, Daryl would sit in the front seat of his truck for the rest of his life with this girl. The world outside could end and he wouldn't give a shit because he'd be with Beth and he really couldn't imagine ever needing anything more than that.

And then he began to scowl. Where the hell were these thoughts coming from?

"Did you not like it?" Beth asked then and he realized that the song was done and she was misinterpreting his scowl. "I know I probably sang some of the words wrong. Your grandma probably sang it much better."

Daryl looked at her and then slowly shook his head. "Nah. You were…" he paused and looked at her face more closely. At the way she sat there with slightly pink cheeks and her morning dawn blue eyes focused on him. "You're perfect," he then told her on an exhale of air.

He knew he wasn't just talking about her singing the song anymore and the way Beth was looking at him, maybe she knew that, too.

She reached out then and his eyes closed for a brief second as her hand came to his cheek. Her hand was cold but Daryl felt himself leaning into it nonetheless.

And then, he opened his eyes again and he knew it was wrong. Every damn thought he had around Beth was wrong. He was nothing more than some sick pervert who was probably just about to go and ruin everything but he was a Dixon, after all, and they weren't exactly known for thinking of cause and effect and consequences.

Daryl wondered though how wrong he really was because when he leaned into her then and his lips found hers and he kissed her gently, he felt Beth's own lips press against his in response as if she had been wanting him to kiss her, too.

…

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 **Thank you very much for reading and please review!**


	14. Sprinkles

**Thank you so much for all of the reviews on the last chapter! I have been waiting to tell that chapter since I began this story and I was so happy to see that so many of you loved it as much I do!**

* * *

…

 **Chapter Fourteen.** Sprinkles.

This girl. This damn girl.

She smelled like sugar and tasted like it, too, and Daryl didn't care that his lungs were burning as they screamed to be replenished with air. And Beth didn't seem like she wanted the kiss to end either. Every kiss Daryl pressed to her lips, Beth pressed back against his with gentle pressure of her own, her fingers tangled back in his hair.

Daryl wasn't entirely too sure what to do with his own hands. He went through life trying to make as little physical contact with everyone around him as possible but Beth was different. Maybe she always had been – since that night he first saw her in the doughnut shop. She wasn't his mom or his grandma. She was Beth. She was her own person and he found himself actually _wanting_ to touch her. He just had no idea how to go about doing it.

Burying his face in her throat had been easy. He had been in some sort of haze and hadn't even really thought of it before doing it. But this, even though his head was feeling light from kissing her, he was very aware of what he was doing and what was going on and he couldn't remember the last time he felt so lost. It seemed like he was always feeling that whenever he was around this girl.

He still clutched his keys in one hand and his other moved slowly towards her, pausing right before it touched her but then he finally decided to rest it on her thigh. And that seemed to be just fine with Beth because she moved a little closer to him and kissed him a little harder and Daryl found himself kissing her harder in return.

This damn girl.

How did she taste so damn good? How did she make him want to just crawl into her mouth and live there forever, basking in her sweetness and warmth and feeling safe? And why did he get the feeling that if he wanted to do just that, Beth would just smile at him and let him?

This wasn't him. He wasn't the sort to sit in his parked truck in the open like this and just kiss a girl until neither of them could breathe. He wasn't the sort to do this in private either. Merle had always been the one interested in women; damn near obsessed with them and Daryl had witnessed plenty of times women making his brother even more stupid than he usually was.

Daryl had never wanted to get close to anyone or let anyone get too close to him. There was always the risk of them getting too close and seeing his body and asking too many questions. Or worse, they wouldn't ask any questions but they would see his scars and look at him with a look of pity and Daryl hated that fucking look more than anything. He hated just the idea of anyone pitying him. Things had been shit for him for his entire life but he had made it. He had survived all on his own and he didn't get here because people felt sorry for him.

He wondered how Beth would look if she ever saw his body. Did he actually want her to see though? They were just kissing and he was already thinking about showing her something that he didn't show anybody. He was getting way too ahead of himself. Once they finished kissing today, who was to say it would ever happen again? That almost made Daryl frown though. Could he really not kiss Beth again now that he knew what it was like when he kissed her?

Beth's fingers tightened in his hair and tugged gently and her mouth broke away from his with a soft, breathless giggle. "I just have to breathe for a second," she said and Daryl found himself actually smiling. It was a small one but a smile nonetheless and Beth closed her eyes, leaning forward and resting her forehead to his, her own little smile across her lips. She looked almost serene.

Daryl didn't close his eyes though. He just stared at her face, it so close that he could see the delicate fineness of her eyelashes and the small wrinkles around her mouth because this was a girl who smiled too much and saw so much in the world to smile about. He studied her lip for a moment but all remnants of anyone putting their hands on Beth in nothing but a gentle manner were gone and no one would ever be able to know that just a few short weeks ago, her lip had been swollen and bruised and hiding beneath a few layers of makeup.

He couldn't help himself when he lifted his thumb and brushed it along the corner of her lip and as he did that, Beth's eyes fluttered open and she looked into his. He was almost embarrassed to be touching her like this but just as he thought of pulling his thumb away, Beth gave him a soft smile that made him freeze in his place.

This damn girl. Who the hell was she? Why did she look so happy to be sitting there with him in his beat-up truck with his dirty hands on her face and his lips on hers?

"Do you want to come inside with me?" She asked in a quiet voice that made him just want to close his eyes and let it wash over him. "There are chairs in the practice rooms … it won't be exciting. I'm just going to be working on my senior composition and I don't know how long I'll be …"

Daryl looked at her for a moment. "You wan' me comin' in with you?" He asked.

"I do," she gave her a head a slight nod and gave him a small smile. "I'd love for you to come in and hear me play. If you have other plans-"

"Nah. I'm all yours. For the afternoon," he quickly added, stumbling a bit, and Beth just smiled – even as he felt the tips of his ears burn pink.

Beth was the one to pull away first and she gathered her things, slipping from the truck, and Daryl got out from his own side, making sure the doors were locked. Not that he thought anyone would steal his truck – as old as it was – but he took care of it and had put a lot of work into it and a person couldn't be too careful nowadays.

Beth was already on the bottom step leading up into the three-story brick building and she was waiting for him, smiling back at him. Daryl wondered if anyone would see them together and if they did, he wondered what they would think. He obviously wasn't a college student and he just looked so much damn older than Beth as he walked beside her into the building. He almost expected her to hold his hand but she didn't and she walked to the front desk where a bored-looking boy sat, a book open in front of him but he was ignoring it to scroll through his phone instead.

"Hi. I reserved a practice room today," Beth smiled at the kid.

And the kid looked up at her for only a second before he reached behind him and took a key from off a pegboard on the wall. "Room three," he said, holding the key out to her and his eyes already falling back down to his phone.

Beth looked back to Daryl and smiled and he crossed the small vestibule to get to her. She began heading up the stairs and he climbed beside her. The building was quiet and he reminded himself that it was Saturday.

The practice rooms were on the second floor at the end of the hall near the fire exit. There were four doors – two on each side with a single number posted on the front and a small square window to look into. Glancing towards one, he saw a boy playing some sort of horn in room number one. Beth went to room number three and unlocked the door, flipping on the light switch, and Daryl followed her inside. It was a small square room with padded walls to keep the sound contained and a window that overlooked one of the many courtyards on campus.

There was a piano and a few hard plastic chairs and a couple of music stands. Daryl lowered himself into one of the chairs and watched as Beth took off her bag and dropped it onto one of the other chairs before reaching inside and rifling through all of the papers she kept in there, she pulled out a small stack as well as a pencil.

She smiled at him then and he couldn't do anything except look up at her. He swore her lips were still a little swollen from their kisses and the sun shining through the window seemed to be making her blonde hair look as if it was gold.

 _American Goldfinches are the only finch that molts its body feathers twice a year, once in late winter and again in late summer. The brightening yellow of male goldfinches each spring is one welcome mark of approaching warm months._

"You're going to be so bored," Beth then warned him even though she had been the one to ask him to come in here with her.

"Nah," he gave his head a shake. "I wanna hear you play."

Her cheeks turned pink at that and she smiled shyly as she turned away from him and went to the piano. She sat on the creaky wooden bench and set her sheet music down in front of her and he leaned forward a little as if in anticipation.

And then her fingers began tinkling up and down the keys and it was like just when he had kissed her.

Listening to Beth play the piano, the rest of the world just faded away.

…

After about an hour of playing and writing and tinkering, Beth stopped and turned on the bench towards him. She gave him a smile.

"Bored yet?" She asked, teasing lightly.

Daryl just shook his head. Not in the least was he bored. Listening to her play was like listening to the birds sing.

"My ass is a lil' sore," he said out loud and Beth laughed at that.

"Come on. There's a room down the hallway with vending machines," she said as she pulled herself from the bench. She pocketed the key and then headed out into the hallway, Daryl behind her.

The hallway was cool and he hadn't realized that the practice room had gotten so stuffy. The kid was still in the other room, playing his horn, but Daryl couldn't hear him and the rest of the hallway seemed to be completely silent.

"Almost all of my classes are in this building," Beth said as they headed down the hallway. "Now that I'm a senior, I'm able to take classes that are just for my major."

"What are you gonna do when you graduate?" Daryl asked, looking at her, his hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans.

"Daryl!" Beth gave him a mock gasp. "You should _never_ ask a college senior that question," she said and then let out a little giggle and Daryl smirked a little in response. "I have no idea," she then answered. "I love music, obviously, and singing and writing my own music and giving piano lessons to a few of the kids in town but I don't know if I actually want to get my education degree and be a teacher." She then shook her head quickly. "I'm just probably overthinking things."

She turned into a little room then that looked like the break room at work. A few vending machines, a microwave, a mini-fridge and a sink and a table to sit at.

Beth went to one of the vending machines and bought herself a bag of Cheetos before turning and handing him another dollar bill. "My treat," she said and Daryl normally would have refused but he supposed he was a bit distracted because he took the dollar extended towards him without argument.

"Why do you think you gotta be a teacher?" He asked as she went to another of the vending machines and bought herself a bottle of water.

Beth shrugged at that. "Because I've been in the program for almost four years now and if I didn't want to be a teacher, shouldn't I have figured that out sooner?"

"Hell, I'm almost forty and I still don't know wha' the hell I'm doin' most days," Daryl heard himself say and Beth looked at him quietly for a moment.

"I didn't know how old you were," she then commented quietly.

"Too old for you," he mumbled, turning himself towards the vending machines and looking over the selections though he didn't feel like getting anything.

"No, you're not," Beth said in the same quiet tone but he didn't say anything more. He saw her from the corner of his eye lean against the doorframe of the entrance and she tore the bag of Cheetos open though she didn't eat any. "But it's also because if I don't become a music teacher, what else am I going to do with a music degree? If I don't become a teacher, what am I going to be?"

Daryl turned his eyes and set his eyes on her. "Whatever you wanna be," he told her.

Beth didn't say anything to that and she seemed to almost freeze in her place. She stared him and Daryl wondered if he had just somehow said the completely wrong thing. He wasn't good at talking with people. That's why he didn't do it most of the time. He always wound up saying something wrong or stupid and people were always able to tell just how low and uneducated he really was whenever he talked.

And now, Beth was staring at him and he saw tears starting to build in her eyes.

Ah, hell, it must have been the _really_ wrong thing to say.

But as he turned towards her, ready to apologize or say something in an effort to erase his obviously stupid comment, Beth rushed towards him. She threw her arms around his shoulders and stood on her toes and hugged him tightly. For a moment, Daryl stood there, having absolutely no idea what to do, but then slowly, he lifted his hands. One went to her elbow, cupping it, and the other rested lightly on her hip.

Beth turned her head and he felt her face against the side of his throat and her arms tightened around his shoulders and it seemed as if she wasn't ready to end this hug anytime soon. And the longer it went on for, the more relaxed Daryl felt his body become. The hand on her hip eventually snaked further around until it found a spot on the small of her back and the hand on her elbow rested between her shoulder blades. She smelled as she always did – like sunshine and sugar – and he couldn't help but drop his head down a little, bringing his face closer to her shoulder.

"You're one of the best men I've ever met, Daryl Dixon," she whispered to him then.

Daryl couldn't help but snort at that. Girl still didn't know anything about him because if she did, she sure as hell wouldn't be thinking that about him.

"Don't do that," she said and pulled her head back, tilting it up to look at him, and Daryl didn't say anything as he looked down to her face. "You _are_."

Daryl should have argued with her. He should have told her in all of the ways she was wrong and how she had no damn idea what she was talking about. But he didn't because he kept looking into her face and she seemed to say her words with such conviction, Daryl found himself not able to argue with any of it at the moment.

And she seemed to know that he wasn't going to say anything because after another moment, she pushed herself up on her toes and kissed him softly on the cheek. "Come on. Pick a snack," she said as she slowly pulled herself away from him.

Daryl didn't even pay attention to what he was picking but pushed the buttons and when he pulled out his selection, he saw that he had chosen a pack of roasted pumpkin seeds. He hadn't had these in years.

They returned to the practice room and Daryl closed the door and Beth went to the window, pushing it open a few inches to get some of the cool air circulating inside.

She took a sip of water and then sat down on the bench, looking to Daryl with a smile and patting the spot beside her. Daryl gave her a curious look but settled himself down beside her. She put her Cheetos and water on top of the piano and Daryl followed her lead with the unopened bag of pumpkin seeds.

She then took his right hand and she guided it to the keys.

"I don't know how to play," Daryl frowned though he guessed she already knew that.

"I'm going to teach you," Beth smiled at him. Her fingers slid around his index and middle fingers. "These two keys, one, two, one, two. Back and forth." She pressed his fingers onto the keys and he heard the low sounds they produced. "Steady just like that. Back and forth. One. Two."

Daryl found himself counting a steady beat to himself and then he looked as Beth situated both of her hands on the other side of the piano. The notes she began to play were higher than the low ones he kept playing and she used both of her hands to play many more than him, her fingers light and delicate as they flew up and down. He saw her move her leg and then he heard an echo coming from the piano and lowering his eyes, he saw her foot pressing down on some sort of pedal.

She began laughing and his own lips twitched as they continued playing their song. He didn't know what it was but it was nice. It sounded fun and light and he wondered if this song had a name or if it was just one she had made up on the spot.

When the song ended and Beth's fingers fell away from the keys, Daryl followed her lead and his fingers left the keys, too. She laughed once more and smiled and this time, when she turned towards him and hugged him again, he was ready for it and he hugged her back without much hesitancy at all.

…

"I have a favor to ask," Beth said once she returned the key to the desk and they stepped back outside another hour later.

The sun was lower in the sky now, slipping from late afternoon and approaching dusk and most of the cars from the parking lot where his truck was were gone now.

They walked down the steps and Daryl didn't say anything but he looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

"It's not really a favor. More like a question that you have every right in the world to refuse," she quickly amended herself. She then took a deep breath and looked at him with a hesitant smile. "Every Saturday night, I go to the farm to have dinner with my family. My daddy and brother and sister and brother-in-law. Nothing fancy. Usually just pizza and we hang out and sometimes watch a movie. I was wondering if you would like to come with me tonight. I know my daddy still wants to meet you since he only met you briefly in the police station that day and he has asked about you…"

She trailed off then and Daryl's eyes were focused on the ground now. He wasn't entirely surprised with the invitation. She knew her pops was curious about him and Daryl couldn't exactly blame him. The first time they had met had been in the police station because Beth wanted a restraining order on the ex who hit her. The man probably looked to Daryl as he thought that Beth still looked at him as. Some sort of hero though he was anything but.

He didn't need to save Beth from anything. She had saved herself.

Daryl wished he knew how to say that.

But like he thought earlier, he just wasn't the sort of guy to go and meet anyone's daddy. He could just imagine what Hershel Greene would think of him when he saw him again and this time, would get the chance to really look at him. His too-long hair and the hole in the knee of his jeans and the grey hair on his chin.

He was too damn old and dirty to be around Beth, that was for sure, and he didn't need her family to think what he already knew.

They were at the truck now, stopped next to the passenger door. He could feel his eyes on her but he still wasn't looking at her.

"Like I said before, the invitation is always open to you so if you don't want to come tonight, maybe next weekend or a completely different Saturday night…" she trailed off then and Daryl finally lifted his eyes, looking at her through his hair.

Her eyes were now the ones who had fallen away from him, instead focused on the strap of her bag slung across her chest. Her fingers were fidgeting, plucking at the strap as if there was some piece of invisible lint she was trying to capture, and Daryl realized that she was nervous. Was she nervous to be asking him this?

That almost made him frown. He didn't want her to ever be nervous around him. He was a Dixon but that didn't mean he ever wanted a girl to be nervous or scared of him. Unlike some of the men in his family, he didn't get off on that. Instead, it made his stomach churn as if he was feeling sick. Beth had no reason to be nervous with him and to show her that, he pulled his keys out of his pocket.

Pizza honestly didn't sound so bad and maybe if he did it now, he'd get it over and done with and not have to go back for a second time.

"Tell me how to get there," he said and Beth's head instantly snapped up, her eyes meeting his and he saw her relieved and surprised and happy, all mixed together.

This damn girl and how damn beautiful she was.

Because she smiled then and Daryl felt his stomach churning again but it felt completely different and was for a completely different reason now.

Beth stepped to him and tilted her head up, stretching her neck out and meeting his lips with hers. Daryl pressed his lips back gently and he felt her hands on his chest, pressing a little against him as she got herself balanced. His hands cupped her hips, holding onto her, and his lips moved with a bit more pressure against hers.

How could this girl eat a bag of Cheetos and still taste like sugar?

She pressed herself tighter against him and he felt her body line with his and his arms slipped around her waist now, holding onto her, and she tilted her head slightly to the side to kiss him a little harder – Daryl kissing her and matching her kisses in return.

He wondered how Beth was going to introduce him to her family. Was he her friend or was he something else? Her boyfriend? Didn't they have to have a conversation with each other before that word was just thrown around? Was Beth his girlfriend? And did Beth even want a boyfriend again after how disastrous her last one had ended? Girl was out of her mind if she was looking to be in another relationship.

Of course, she was standing in a parking lot with his arms around her and his lips on hers as he kissed the breath from her mouth. It was pretty damn obvious the girl was already out of her mind.

He was too damn old to be someone's boyfriend. He was not a boy. And even if he was, he had never been someone's boyfriend before and he wasn't looking to be now.

"Thank you," Beth then murmured to him softly before she kissed him again and her fingers were in his hair now, holding onto his head, and Daryl knew he was completely fucked. Completely and utterly because he knew.

He knew that anything Beth Greene wanted to call him, that's what he would be.

This damn girl.

…

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 **Meeting the Greene family in the next chapter.**

 **Thank you so much for reading and please review!**


	15. Bacon Maple

**I cannot thank you enough for all of the reviews and warm reception you have been giving this story.**

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…

 **Chapter Fifteen.** Bacon Maple.

There was one thing about the Greene family that didn't surprise Daryl in the least. After all, Beth was a Greene. The Greene family was _nice._ Just a bunch of nice people who seemed genuinely interested and welcoming in meeting him.

The Greene farmhouse was what Daryl was expecting it to be. Big and white and sitting on a piece of land that stretched as far as his eye could see in the setting sun.

He drove the truck up the dirt drive and parked it near a tree Beth pointed him to. He exhaled a deep breath as he turned the truck off and pulled the key from the ignition, his eyes looking up at the house before him. His head snapped over as soon as he felt her hand slide over his and she gave him a smile. Warm and soft and he found himself turning his hand over so she could slide her fingers through his and give his hand a squeeze.

He expected her to let go but once they got out of the truck, her hand found his again and he followed as she led him up the creaky steps of the wraparound front porch and opened the screen door, pulling him into a house that smelled like pumpkins.

"We're here!" Beth called out and Daryl wondered if they knew he was going to be here though he didn't know how he would. Daryl hadn't expected to ever be here.

The first person he saw was a woman – tall and thin with short brown hair and large green eyes. She reminded him of a cat the second he saw her. She smiled warmly when she saw both of them.

"Daryl, this is my older sister, Maggie. Maggie, this is Daryl Dixon," Beth introduced with a smile and Maggie never stopped smiling as she settled her eyes on Daryl and he realized that Beth was still holding his hand and he wondered if he should pull it away. He didn't know what her family would think if they saw.

But it seemed like Maggie had already seen – was hard to miss, he guessed – but she still kept on smiling at him.

"It's so nice to finally meet you, Daryl," Maggie said. "Beth's told us so much about you." He must have raised an eyebrow at that because Maggie laughed then and glancing at Beth, he saw her cheeks were pink. "Or as much as she's been able to."

"Good to meet you," Daryl said in his usual gruff tone.

"Now," Maggie took a step closer to them and Daryl braced himself, waiting for Maggie to be like a typical sibling and threaten the person their little sister brought home. Or, that's what he assumed what a typical sibling was like. Merle had never been exactly a typical anything.

"Shawn is in charge of the movie tonight so whatever he chooses, I don't care what it is. We veto it," Maggie said in a low voice as if she was a conspirator in some great plan. "He's been on the worst Sylvester Stallone kick lately."

Beth giggled softly. "We take turns picking movies for Saturday pizza night," Beth explained to him and Daryl turned his head to look at her. "But everyone gets one veto if they really hate what the person chooses. Maggie always vetoes Shawn."

"Shawn always vetoes me," Maggie said, frowning now.

"That's because your choices are shit," a man said, overhearing their conversation as he came into the hallway, followed by a man Daryl recognized as Hershel.

"Language," Hershel said though it seemed as if the man was used to that language coming from the mouths of his children.

"And this is my older brother, Shawn, and you know my dad already," Beth continued with introductions. "This is Daryl Dixon."

"Hey, man," the tall brown-haired, brown-eyed man said before turning his attention to Maggie once more. "I mean, look at who you married," he then said but he said it with a teasing smile but Maggie narrowed her cat-like eyes at him.

"So, when's your next test down at the free clinic?" She asked.

"Children, please. Let's make Daryl believe that we can act like adults," Hershel said, his eyes twinkling and his smile warm as he settled them both on Daryl. "I'm so glad you were able to make it tonight. Every time I see Bethy, I ask her about you."

Daryl could see Beth blushing again and Daryl felt as if he wanted to a little, too. Instead, he shook the hand Hershel had extended towards him.

"Told Beth that invitin' me to dinner wasn' necessary," Daryl finally spoke.

"Of course it is," Hershel quickly brushed that aside. "I've been very eager to get the chance to get to know you more."

Daryl knew that Hershel was being genuine. Her whole family seemed to want to know him but he stood there and he couldn't figure out why. He wasn't anybody. Just some guy that Beth had met on a shitty morning in her life. He would think she would want to forget all about what happened so why did she keep wanting to be around him and bringing him around to introduce him to her family? He would think none of them would want to know him and associate him with what happened to their precious little Beth.

He heard a car outside and a minute later, an Asian man entered the house, two pizza boxes in his hand. Maggie went up to greet him and take the pizzas from him.

"I love you," she said.

"I never know if you're saying that to me or the pizzas," the man grinned.

"This is Maggie's husband, my brother-in-law, Glenn. He owns Rhee's Pizza in town but you already know that. Glenn, this is Daryl Dixon," Beth made the introductions once more.

"Hey, nice to meet you," Glenn stepped forward and shook Daryl's hand, smiling the whole time. "Sausage, green pepper and mushroom," he then stated, remembering what Daryl usually ordered when he called for a pizza, and Daryl almost smirked at that, giving Glenn a forward tilt of his head in greeting.

"Alright, let's stop crowding here and give Daryl a little bit of room to breathe," Hershel said as he began ushering Shawn, Maggie and Glenn back down the hall and he gave Beth and Daryl a quick wink.

Daryl didn't realize he was squeezing Beth's hand until he felt her rub circles on his skin with her thumb and she leaned into him. He turned his head and looked down at her as she gave him her soft smile that did nothing to calm his stomach down.

"The worst is over," she said in a quiet voice.

Daryl smirked with a shake of his head. "It hasn' even started," he said. "Your dad seems like the kind of guy that wants to interrogate."

"No," Beth shook her head, still smiling a little. "He won't. I promise. He just wants to get to know you. He knows…" she paused for a moment and Daryl could see her visibly swallow. "He knows how important you are to me," she then whispered.

Daryl stared down at her and the blush spreading across her cheeks and he felt the urge to kiss her right then and there but he didn't dare. It was amazing to him that he was still holding her hand where her family could see.

He didn't dare though and he didn't even ask the question he wanted to. When the hell had he become important to her and even more than that. _Why_ was he important to her? Didn't she think he was too old or too surly or too pissed off all of the time? He wasn't exactly a friendly guy but maybe that was the thing. Maybe when he was around her, he was able to be someone different. Maybe with Beth, he was able to kind of be the person he might have been if things in his life – in his childhood – had turned out differently for him.

A normal guy just seeing a normal girl.

"Come on," Beth said, quickly changing the subject. "Let's go get some pizza before Shawn and Glenn take it all."

She kept holding onto his hand and led him through the living room and dining room into the kitchen where the others were. The pizzas were on the island counter and when they entered, Maggie passed two paper plates into their hands.

"Alright, we have pepperoni on that one," Glenn pointed to one of the pizzas. "And sausage and green pepper on the other one."

Beth went straight for the pepperoni pizza but Daryl hung back, hesitating. He had never been to a family dinner like this. Definitely not with his own. When he lived with her, he had had dinner with Grandma Liv every night but it was just the two of them and they talked about school and his homework or how he had done on his test that day in science class. And when he had been following Merle around for a few years of his life, Merle and him didn't exactly sit down and eat dinner. Most of the time, Daryl ate out of vending machines or gas stations.

He had been to eat at the Grimes' home a few times and they sat at the dining room table and it always looked like Lori was trying a new recipe from _Good Housekeeping_ and the whole night felt as if it was out of some damn magazine with orderly and polite conversation, Carl being asked by both parents how school was and Lori asking her husband how work was and Rick and Carl talking baseball.

But this dinner with the Greene family, it was loud and almost chaotic and Daryl didn't know what to do. Hershel and Glenn were talking about how the pizza business was doing – which seemed to be doing just fine seeing as how this was a college town – and Maggie and Shawn were still arguing back and forth with one another, Shawn sounding like he was doing impersonations of Sylvester Stallone from different movies and Maggie telling him again and again to shut up.

All of the Greene children looked different from one another and Daryl couldn't help but wonder _how_ they were related though he knew that was none of his business.

"Hey," Beth came up to him. "Aren't you hungry?"

Daryl looked to her own plate with three large triangle slices of pizza. "You clearly are," he teased her with a little smirk and she pinched him playfully on his side. "'m jus' waitin' my turn," he said.

"Oh, no," she shook her head and grabbing his arm, she tugged him forward. "With this family, it's survival of the fittest. Grab it now or you won't get any at all."

She knew he would want the sausage pizza without asking him and she pulled three slices, placing them on his plate. She then handed him a few napkins and grabbed a few for herself. She took his arm again.

"Let's go get a seat before Shawn. He has a tendency to _lounge_ and he's so annoying," she said and he smirked a little, following her into the room where the couches and television were. She broke ahead and hurried to one of the couches, quickly sitting down and thusly, staking her spot. Daryl sat down beside her and she smiled at him.

He wondered if she knew that he had never done anything like this before. Going to eat at a girl's house with the girl's family and being treated as if he belonged there. He wondered if she somehow knew everything about him already without him having to tell her a word.

And the thing he was realizing with Beth was he knew she didn't know anything about him but the more time he spent with her, he felt like maybe he actually _wanted_ to tell her. Maybe not everything. Definitely not everything. But maybe he could tell her a few things. About his Grandma Liv and his Grandpa Chris. Maybe about his brother and mom, too. He didn't know what he would tell her. He only had so many good things in his entire life that he would even think about sharing but with Beth, he knew that she would sit and listen and want to hear it all.

"You're frowning again," Beth broke through his thoughts and then her hand went to his forehead in an attempt to smooth out the wrinkles and he couldn't help but find himself leaning into her touch.

She smiled faintly at him and leaned in a little bit towards him, too, as if she was going to kiss him but he knew they wouldn't do that with her family in the next room. Even if she wanted to, he wouldn't be able to do that.

"Alright!" Shawn exclaimed, entering the room with his own plate of pizza and a stack of DVDs crammed underneath his arm.

Glenn, Maggie and Hershel entered behind him and Maggie set two cans of Coke down on the table in front of Daryl and Beth before plopping down beside Daryl.

"Now, we have many amazing choices tonight," Shawn informed them all. "First, of course, _Rambo_ and _Rambo II._ Then _Demolition Man_ and _The Expendables."_

"It's a Sylvester Stallone marathon and you didn't bring _Rocky_?" Glenn asked.

"Rocky loses," Shawn informed him. "Tonight, it's all about Sylvester winning."

"Oh my god," Maggie rolled her eyes. "Veto!"

"Your veto is irrelevant," Shawn brushed her off. "Now, I think, since Daryl is our guest, we should let him choose which one we watch even though any choice he makes will not be a wrong choice."

"No," Beth spoke up before Daryl could even open his mouth – not that he was planning to. "You are not going to force Daryl to choose between you and Maggie. Not on his first night here."

Shawn frowned. "Fine," he seemed to reluctantly agree. "Then it all comes down to Glenn and dad."

As a new argument arose between Maggie and Shawn with Glenn piping in saying that he really wished Shawn had brought _Rocky_ , Daryl sat there in silence, eating his pizza and watching them. They were loud and they were fighting but this wasn't the kind of fighting that made him want to run to a closet and hide or grab the phone and get ready to call the cops so it could be broken up. This was a family and they were fighting but there was no anger behind the words or threats of violence.

Halfway through _Rambo II_ , Daryl leaned into Beth and asked her in a low voice where the bathroom was.

Beth smiled and said it was right off the kitchen.

He nodded and stood up, taking his empty plate with him and he held out his hand towards her. Beth smiled up at him as she handed him her plate and he carried both into the kitchen with him, tossing them into the trashcan and located the bathroom.

Daryl wasn't entirely surprised when he came out of the bathroom again and Hershel was in the kitchen now, cleaning up the remnants of their dinner. The older man lifted his head and looked to Daryl, smiling as he did so, and Daryl took that to mean that he shouldn't leave the kitchen until the man was finished talking with him. He took a step forward, his hands in his pockets, trying to keep himself from being nervous. There was no reason to be nervous. He was a Dixon and nothing scared him – especially a man who looked like Santa Claus.

"I just wanted to thank you for coming tonight," Hershel said.

Daryl shrugged. "Should be thankin' you for the invitation."

"Well, you are officially invited for every Saturday pizza night if you want to come," Hershel smiled at him. "And I'm glad I got the chance to meet you in better circumstances than the last time." Daryl nodded his head to that and didn't say anything. "I can't tell you how glad I am that you were with Bethy that day."

Daryl shrugged again. "She asked me to go with her and I was just tryin' to help. It's hard for women to do what Beth did," he then said before he could stop himself and once he heard him say those words, he promptly snapped his mouth shut.

Hershel was looking at him closely and though Daryl wanted to look anywhere in that moment except the man, he wasn't able, it seemed, to look away from him. Daryl wondering if the older man could peak into his mind and read his thoughts like his daughter seemed able to do sometimes.

"Yes, it is," Hershel said in a quiet voice and Daryl focused his eyes closer on him.

Suddenly, Daryl felt like maybe he and Hershel Greene had a lot more in common that he would ever expect.

"Need any help?" Daryl asked, taking another step forward.

"Paper plates are a godsend," Hershel just smiled. He grabbed a paper towel and wet it with water from the sink for a moment before turning and beginning to wipe down the counter. "So tell me a little about yourself, Daryl."

Fuck, Daryl swiftly swore to himself. That's what he had been dreading because what the hell could he say to this man that wouldn't want him staying as far from his daughter as possible?

"Uh, I work over at the GE office. Manager of the warehouse," Daryl said.

Hershel nodded. "That's a good job. A very good company to get yourself into."

Daryl nodded as well, finding no argument with that. He had health insurance and a steady good paycheck and even got himself a fucking 401K plan to put money into.

"What else? Beth mentioned you hunt?"

"Yeah," Daryl said and he wasn't surprised Beth mentioned that. It wasn't as if she knew much about him to tell her family. "Been huntin' since I was a boy."

"Beth said you're very good at it."

Daryl just shrugged. He knew he was a good hunter and a hell of a tracker but he didn't need to validate that by bragging about it. He hunted enough meat to kept him fed and that was the reason he hunted. He hunted because it was a means to survive. He _had_ to be a good hunter.

"My daughter is very taken with you," Hershel said, swiftly switching gears again.

Daryl just stood there and looked at him because what the hell was he supposed to say to that? He was taken with her, too? He wondered if he even had to say that though. He wondered how obvious it was to everyone. He guessed as long as it was obvious to Beth, she was really the only one who mattered when it came to that.

He didn't even know when it happened because one second, he frowned and got pissed off at just the thought of her but now, he found himself looking forward to every day because there was that chance that he might get to see her.

Beth Greene had snuck up on him, that was for damn sure.

Hershel looked at him for a moment – not saying anything. He then nodded his head and tossed the wet paper towel away. "You'll take care of her," he said and it both sounded like an order and an assurance.

And Daryl felt he should say something to tell him that he would take care of Beth – of course he would – but it wasn't that serious between them. They were just… being. He didn't even know what the hell they were and he doubted they would ever talk about it because this, whatever this was, _being_ with her, it just felt… right.

He wound up not saying anything because what the hell could he say that would even begin to explain any of this?

"Maggie is my daughter from my first marriage," Hershel continued as if he really didn't expect Daryl to say anything. "And she's just like her. Fierce and tough and I never worried about her not being able to stand on her own two feet. Her mom was like that, too. So independent, the both of them, that most of the time, I was pretty sure neither of them needed me that much. And then Beth is my daughter from my second marriage. Shawn is Annette's boy and I adopted him as my own when he was just a little one. I was older than Annette by a good fifteen years and all of my friends were slapping me on the back for landing a young wife and all of her friends were wondering if she had lost her mind, marrying an old fart like me. And sometimes, I felt like that, too. Annette loved me. I know she did. And I adored that woman but I couldn't help but think that she was too young and was just wasting her time on me. Annette was little but she was fierce though. Just like Beth and once that woman set her mind on something, that was it."

Daryl just looked at the man and didn't say anything. He wasn't an idiot. He knew why Hershel was telling him all of this and it wasn't just a way to explain the Greene family and his kids to him.

He couldn't help but wonder what the hell Beth had said about him to her family for Hershel to feel the need to tell him something like this. Or maybe the rest of the Greene family was just like Beth and didn't find Daryl that damn hard to read.

"Oh my god, Shawn!" Maggie suddenly exclaimed from the other room.

"Oh my god," Beth sighed, entering the kitchen. But then her eyes landed on Daryl and her smile was instant. "I thought you got lost," she teased him and he smirked even as the tips of his ears turned pink.

"Jus' talkin' with your dad," he said, tilting his head towards Hershel, and Beth looked surprised for a moment as if she hadn't seen her dad in the kitchen, too.

She looked back and forth between Daryl and Hershel. "And how is that going?" She asked and she was trying to sound casual but he didn't find Beth that hard to read – the girl's big damn eyes gave most of her away – and he could tell she was nervous.

"I was just thinking that you should take Daryl out to the barn and show him around," Hershel said with a warm smile directed to the both of them.

"Oh, yes!" Beth's eyes lit up at that. "I should have thought of that myself. You'll love it, Daryl," she told him as she took his hand and he saw no reason to fight it as his feet followed her out the backdoor.

The Greene family farm had two barns on their property and Beth led him to the one closest to the house. He could hear chickens clucking and the oink of a pig and stepping into the barn, smelling the hay and animals and their shit, he took a deep breath and he couldn't help but be jealous of Beth for a moment that she had grown up with all of this. On a comfortable farm with a nice and loving family and these animals.

But the jealousy lasted for only a moment and then he just felt angry that someone with such a good life who was so good herself and kind had been exposed to just how truly shitty some people in this world could be.

"This is Nelly," Beth said, bringing him up to the horse stalls. Nelly was a rick dark brown color but instead of stepping towards them, she shuffled a step back. "As in Nervous Nelly. She's always a little bit on edge. But she's a good horse and we love her. And this is Beauty. For Black Beauty," Beth smiled, rubbing the muzzle of a horse so black, it looked as if his coat was a shiny slick patch of oil.

Daryl stared at the large animal.

His Grandpa Chris had had a horse once. Grandma Liv had pictures and it had been black just like this horse. Black with black eyes but there was nothing cold-looking about that animal when Daryl had looked at the pictures. Grandma Liv used to joke that Grandpa Chris sometimes probably loved that horse more than her but Daryl knew that she had just been joking. Even though he had ever met the man, he knew Grandpa Chris had loved nothing more than Liv.

One winter, the horse fell and injured his leg and it had broken Grandpa Chris's heart but the horse had to be put down. And after that, his heart was never open again to owning another horse.

Daryl had been a little boy and didn't know Grandma Liv would die when he was still so young but he used to think that maybe, when he was older, he would save his money and surprise his grandma with another horse.

Maybe they would have named him Chris.

Daryl looked at the Greene's black horse. Beauty stared at him, nuzzling a little closer to Beth as she smiled and nuzzled back, looking to Daryl. She reached out and took his hand and Daryl watched as she placed his hand on Beauty's muzzle. The horse seemed to push against his hand, prompting him, and Daryl slowly began to rub it up and down. He shuffled a step closer and he wasn't able to take his eyes from the horse. The animal's black eyes blinked at him, watching him as if it could peak into Daryl's mind and read what he was thinking of in that moment.

He looked to Beth, asking for silent permission, and she smiled warmly and nodded her head. And before he could stop himself or even really think about what he was doing, Daryl stepped right up to the horse and resting his forehead to Beauty's muzzle, he closed his eyes and took another deep breath.

…

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 **Thank you so much for reading and please review!**


	16. Crème-Filled

**I have begun working on so many stories because I'm an idiot and a** **glutton for punishment. I will do my best to keep up with everything. This story is still my favorite though. I just love writing it and this is Beth's POV but in the next chapter, we'll get back to Daryl.**

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…

 **Chapter Sixteen.** Crème-Filled.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Carol Peletier, her college advisor, asked for what had to be the fourth time since Beth had walked into her office for their appointment and Beth had told her what she wanted to do. "I just don't want you to do something, Beth, and regret it tomorrow."

Beth shook her head. "I won't. I know I won't. When I was a freshman, I knew I wanted my degree in music but I knew it could be limiting. What could a person do with a music degree except play on street corners and starve? I thought I _had_ to be a teacher if I wanted to study music. And it took me a while but I know that's not what I want. It's just not what I'm supposed to do."

Carol sat behind her desk, looking at her. Studying her.

Beth had liked Carol Peletier since the first time she met her – when she was a freshman and Carol was assigned to the students on campus with last names G-J. She was kind and could be intense but it was just because she took each and every one of her student's lives here at college so seriously and she wanted to help them make all of the right decisions with their education.

"Maybe you would consider just finishing getting the degree. You're so close. Maybe you don't want to be a teacher now but you don't know how you'll feel in ten years," Carol said, still seeming so reluctant to type anything into her computer. "It might be good to have a teaching degree. Just in case…" her words trailed off though as Beth was already shaking her head in disagreement.

"Carol," Beth began and it had almost taken Beth two years to get used to calling Carol by her first name as Carol preferred. "I'm just not meant to be a teacher. I can feel it. It's just not for me. And I'm sorry it took me so long to realize that."

"Beth," Carol said, interrupting gently with a faint smile. "You have no reason to apologize to me. I just want to make sure that you are absolutely sure about this."

Beth took just a moment even though she really didn't need it.

She could hear Daryl's voice in her head, telling her that she could be whatever she wanted to be. And it wasn't as if he had to say to that to her. It wasn't as if he felt an obligation to tell her something that he otherwise thought was a lie. Beth had a feeling that Daryl didn't lie about anything. No. He had told her because it was something he believed. He believed that she could do anything. He believed in _her_.

And for once, Beth was going to start believing in herself and this decision she had to make. And she had made it. She loved giving piano lessons but she didn't want to be a teacher. Her heart wasn't in that and she couldn't force it to be.

"I'm absolutely sure," she said with a confidence in her voice that she hadn't known had been there just moments earlier.

Carol nodded and finally turned towards her computer. Her fingers clacked over the keys for few minutes and when she looked to Beth once more, she was smiling. "Alright, Beth. You are now officially a music student and nothing else."

And Beth burst into a smile and instantly felt a knot in her stomach disappear. She had done it. She had finally done it. She waited a moment to see if she would feel a churn of regret in her stomach but she felt nothing except relief and she didn't doubt for one second that she had made the right decision for herself. She knew her friends were going to think she was crazy and her family would probably think the same thing though she knew they would probably support her on the surface but none of that mattered because this is what _she_ wanted to do for herself.

"Thank you so much, Carol," Beth said as they both got to their feet.

"I didn't do anything. And I _am_ glad you were able to make this type of decision. I've had some students stay in a degree for four years they hate because they had no idea what else they wanted to do," Carol said. "I don't want you to feel like you've been wasting four years of your life. Life is too short for that."

Impulsively, Beth leaned forward and hugged Carol and with a smile on her face, Carol returned the hug, patting her back once they pulled apart once more.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow at four?" Carol asked as they walked to her office door.

Sophia, Carol's eleven-year-old daughter, had just begun taking piano lessons from Beth the month before – which was another reason Carol might have shown hesitancy in removing Beth from the education program. According to Sophia, Beth was an amazing teacher though in Beth's opinion, teaching half-hour piano lessons one on one with a child was much different than having twenty of them in a room.

"Definitely," Beth smiled with a nod of her head. "Tell Sophia I bought new stickers I'm going to use if she practiced all of her scales."

Carol laughed at that and Beth smiled as she left the office and headed down the hallway, towards the double doors that would lead her outside.

She felt like bouncing or skipping or doing _something_. She felt light. It was Wednesday but she didn't have her education class to get to that evening. She never had a Wednesday night education class ever again. She was free.

Laughter bubbled in her throat and she couldn't stop it from escaping. She had done it. She had actually gone and taken the step she needed to do something she wanted. It didn't matter what anyone else thought. She just wished she had done this sooner.

She began walking off campus and she wasn't surprised when she began heading in the direction of the GE office/warehouse without even really thinking about it. She knew that Daryl was the first person she wanted to talk to about what she had done and she had a present anyway to give to him. It was just a mixed cd and she could wait until he got off of work to give it to him but she really wanted to see him and the sooner, the better.

She felt as if she was crawling out of her skin. Excitement and eagerness and that seemed to only grow as her feet took her closer to Daryl.

Hopefully, he wouldn't mind if she came to see him at work when it wasn't his lunch hour. Things had been moving so nicely between them but she still had no idea what they were doing. At the moment, they were spending time together and kissing and he had met her family and they had all liked him but Beth didn't know what that made them. Or if any of that actually made them anything.

Beth admitted that she was the sort of girl who needed things defined. She wasn't the sort to just "go with the flow". She liked to know where she always stood with a person. She had told herself to not rush into anything after everything with Zach and she had planned on spending some time on her own but then Daryl happened and when she wasn't with him, she wanted to be and when she was with him, she hoped their time together never ended.

Perhaps she was making a mistake in moving too quickly. Maybe she was just setting herself up for a sort of hurt that would cause her more pain that Zach had. She didn't know what Daryl wanted. She knew he liked her. She didn't doubt that. But past that, she had no idea. She still couldn't read that man for the life of her.

The warehouse had its own entrance and Beth went through that door, smiling the second she saw Daryl standing behind the counter. There was a customer, gathering some boxes in his arms as Daryl typed something out on the computer. She bit her lip to keep from smiling wider. There was something about that man she found so incredible sexy in that moment. In his dark blue GE tee-shirt that showed off his muscles and his too long dark hair, he looked oddly sexy typing on a computer. Good God, this man and his muscles.

He looked up when he heard her enter and she smiled as his own lips twitched at her. He then turned back to the customer.

"A'right, you're all set," he said to him.

"Thanks, Daryl. See you next week," the man said, cradling all of his boxes and headed towards the door. He saw Beth and gave her a polite head nod and Beth smiled to him in return.

She then turned towards Daryl and felt once again like skipping. She managed to control herself as she headed around the counter and settled herself onto one of the stools as Daryl had gone back to typing. She waited and made sure she didn't disturb him. After all, he was working and she probably shouldn't even be there anyway but he hadn't frowned and told her she couldn't be there.

He hit a button and a second later, the small printer began to whir and it spit out two pieces of paper. She couldn't help but watch him as he moved around, stapling papers together and slipping them into a file folder and when he finally looked at her again, she beamed at him.

"You're getting good at this," she smiled at him.

The tips of Daryl's ears turned pink as they seemed to do so often. He shrugged and sat down on the other stool beside her. "There's a woman here. Tara. She's been trainin' me. Abraham's the boss but Tara's the one in charge."

Beth smiled. "Isn't that how it usually goes?" She joked and he smirked a little.

"What are you doin' here?" He then asked the question she had been waiting for.

"Guess what happened to me today?" She asked, excitement in her voice again. She then answered before he could even guess – not that she expected him to. "You are now looking at the newest dropout of the education program," she grinned happily.

Daryl smiled a little, too, and let out a huff of breath as if he was letting out a laugh.

"Congratulations, Beth," he then said to her and her smile softened and she felt her own cheeks turn a faint pink.

She knew it was silly but she loved the way her name sounded in his gruff voice.

"I came to invite you to dinner. This time, I'm hoping you would want to celebrate with me," she said, coming up with the idea suddenly and wondering why she hadn't thought of it sooner. She would want to celebrate with no one else.

"A'right," he nodded immediately without protesting. "McDonald's or Taco Bell?"

She laughed a little. "Actually, how about dinner at my place? I can make something for us," she offered.

"Not much of a celebration for you if you have to cook the food," Daryl frowned a little, his eyes settling on her face.

"I actually love to cook. Do you like spaghetti?" She asked, sliding off the stool so she could go to the store and pick up what she would need to make this.

"I don' wanna be a bother…" he began to say.

Beth swiftly cut him off. She bent down and pressed her lips to his cheek, close to his lips. "Come by around six tonight. Okay?"

He tilted his head and looked up to her eyes. After a moment, he nodded his head once. "Okay," he agreed and she smiled. She couldn't help but kiss his cheek one more time and she swore she could feel him leaning into it.

She gave him a smile and headed back towards the door, able to feel his eyes on her the entire time. When she was outside once more, she couldn't contain her happy laughter and she didn't even try. She was happy. The happiest she had felt in so long and she wasn't going to try and hide it and act like she wasn't. If her life was a musical – which she had wished for more than once – she would burst into a song right now. A song about Daryl.

…

Daryl had been to her apartment plenty of times now but had never actually been _in_ her apartment and she spent the rest of the afternoon simultaneously cooking and cleaning and wanting this night to go absolutely perfect.

She kept herself from changing and getting dressed up because she knew Daryl wouldn't be and she didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable. Once the cleaning had finished, she took a quick shower and then tugged on a pair of jeans and her favorite purple and black plaid flannel shirt, rolling the sleeves up to her elbows and braiding her hair before pinning it up off her face and neck.

At five minutes till six, there was a knock on her front door and she burst into a smile as she hurried to answer it. She opened it and she swore, Daryl took her breath away. Good God, this man. He was wearing jeans and his own flannel shirt with his black jacket and it seemed as if he was filling her entire doorway.

"Hi!" She greeted as if she was surprised he was there.

"Hey," he grunted and she stepped aside so he could enter. He stopped right inside and toed off his boots even though she didn't tell him to and he didn't have to. "Made you somethin'," he then said and he reached into his pocket.

She smiled the instant she saw it. Another wooden figurine that he had carved. This one, a music note. She held it tenderly and hugged it to her chest. She looked up at him and he seemed nervous but then he saw her smile and some of the tension in his shoulders seemed to drop.

Without a word, Beth pushed herself on her toes and her arms wrapped around his shoulders as her lips met his. And Daryl didn't seem to hesitate in kissing her back. She felt one of his hands cup the back of her head, cradling it, and his other arm bound around her waist, holding her tightly to him as if she didn't want to be there. She couldn't even imagine wanting to be anywhere else.

She lost all sense of time and as far as she could know, she and Daryl stood in her hallway all night, kissing. Their lips separated every few minutes, hardly a millimeter between them, just to gasp in quick gulps of air before their lips met once more and their kisses resumed. When she dropped down from her toes back to her feet, Daryl's lips followed after hers. She knew she was short so she kept her neck stretched so he didn't have to bend down so much but it didn't seem as if he minded, his lips just as relentless against hers as hers were to his.

Why did it feel as if she hadn't kissed him in years?

Beth nearly groaned when the oven timer suddenly beeped and Daryl's lips pulled off from hers, both a little startled. "Garlic bread," she murmured and she couldn't help but be disappointed.

She reluctantly slipped away from him and turned towards the kitchen. She carefully set the wooden music note on the counter, safe out of harm's way and as she pulled on oven mitts and pulled the tray of garlic bread from the oven, she watched Daryl from the corner of her eye. She had hooks on the wall beside the front door where her own coat and keys hung and she smiled as she saw Daryl take off his coat and hang it on the other hook. He then took a step closer towards the kitchen, looking around as he did so. She knew he wouldn't have cared either way but Beth was glad she had taken the time to clean. Her apartment was small and always looked so cluttered with sheet music and books everywhere.

"Need any help?" Daryl asked, standing there with his hands in his pockets.

"Nope," Beth smiled. "You're the guest. Just keep standing there and looking pretty."

He snorted a little and she laughed. "I ain't a guest," he then said.

"No?" She looked at him, curious.

He shook his head. "Would think we were passed the guest stage," he said.

And maybe he didn't see the big deal of what he had just said but it made her burst into a bright smile. And the way Daryl was looking at her, Beth knew he had no idea why she would be smiling about what he had just said but whether Daryl knew it or not – and he clearly didn't know – he had just given this whole thing something of a definition. Whatever this was, it wasn't just some casual guest. They were passed that and moving onto something else.

"Okay," she smiled. "Take this," she said as she handed him a plate. "Take as much as you like. Spaghetti, homemade tomato sauce and garlic bread. And I have parmesan cheese, too," she said as she went to the refrigerator to get the container. "And I figured we'd eat on the couch. They're showing _The Wedding Singer_ on TV tonight and I love that movie. And then I made brownies for dessert. I told you I make brownies better than the deli and now, you can taste for yourself."

She turned and saw that Daryl was looking at her. He hadn't moved to serve himself any of the food. Instead, he was just staring at her and she stood there, not too sure why. He had never quite looked at her like that. His eyes looked as if they were practically black and her stomach began to churn when she was able to decipher the look on his face. He was a man who was starving. But not for food.

And Beth nearly shivered with excitement.

She set the parmesan cheese on the counter next to the knives and forks she had pulled from the drawer and she remained standing where she was. She felt her body trembling as if she was nervous but she had stopped feeling nervous around Daryl a long time ago. There was never any reason to feel nervous or scared around this man. If anything, when around Daryl was the only time she ever felt completely safe.

Daryl still hadn't taken his eyes off of her and she kept still, watching as he took one step towards her and then another. Her kitchen wasn't big and he was to get to her within three short steps. And then his hands were on her hips and he was pulling her towards him. And Beth quite happily went.

His lips pressed to hers and immediately, the kiss was hard. Probably their hardest kiss to date. Not that she minded at all. It took her aback for a second but she quickly recovered and reacted. Her hands lifted and she pushed the hair back that hung in his face and he opened his mouth again hers, willing her to do the same.

She whimpered as his tongue entered her mouth and that sound seemed to make his grip on her tighten even more. It was practically bruising now but Beth could have cared less about that. If anything, it made her press herself harder against him and she pushed her own tongue into his mouth. He must have smoked before coming here because she could taste it in his mouth but it wasn't disgusting. It wasn't like licking an ashtray. It was just part of Daryl's taste and she couldn't get enough of it.

He turned her around and the next thing she knew, her back was pressed to the refrigerator. In the back of her mind, she heard one of the magnets fall to the floor. Daryl was pressing against her and she could feel it. He was excited and he couldn't hide it from her even if he wanted to. She almost whimpered feeling it against her.

She didn't care what he would do. She couldn't even predict what he would do but she decided to do it anyway. She couldn't remember ever feeling this bold or brave before with someone of the opposite sex and she knew she probably wouldn't have felt this way with anyone else but Daryl.

He knew what was going on immediately when Beth ran her hand slowly down his chest and he grew completely still. His lips were still to hers but he was no longer kissing her. He wasn't moving at all as Beth's finger began tracing the waist of his jeans.

"Beth," he then choked out. "What are you doin'?" He asked.

Beth didn't answer though. She thought it was actually pretty obvious. She waited for him to stop her but he didn't. His hands were still on her hips, fingers digging into her skin, and his eyes were burning into hers. She didn't look anywhere else except into his eyes as her fingers popped open the button of his jeans and then slowly lowered the zipper. The kitchen was so quiet except for both of them breathing so heavily and Beth thought she could hear the actual hiss of the zipper echoing in her ears. His eyes were still black, staring at her, and she nearly shivered.

She had never done anything like this before. Not with Zach and he had been her most serious boyfriend. Not that that made her some sort of expert. There had been her high school boyfriend, Jimmy, but that relationship had been awkward and innocent. And then she had dated Zach for three years and had lost her virginity to him and had done so many things with him but nothing like this. Somehow, even having sex with Zach didn't feel as intimate as this moment with Daryl felt.

She went on natural instinct and when she reached into his boxers he was wearing and her hand found his growing erection, she couldn't help but have her eyes widen at what her fingers wrapped around. Daryl's face was blank but his eyes were smoldering now. She nearly swallowed and her hand slowly moved around what she felt and he thrust his hips forward a little into her hand. It seemed as if he didn't mean to though because she saw his ears turn red again.

Beth gave him a faint smile though in hopes of telling him that it was alright without actually saying it to him.

She never moved her eyes from his face as her fingers slowly and gently closed around him. He wasn't necessarily long but he was thick. So thick and Beth could just imagine how full she would feel when he was inside of her. Her cheeks flushed. _When_. She didn't doubt that she wanted to have sex with Daryl Dixon. Not tonight but some night. Definitely some night. Maybe soon.

He had drops of precum gathering on the tip and she swiped them with her thumb and he thrust his hips forward again. And Beth then began rubbing her hand up and down slowly, working the precum onto the length to help her hand move easier.

She watched his face as she worked her hand up and down, back and forth, giving it a slight twist. He was trying his hardest to keep looking at her but his eyelids were slowly falling until they finally closed completely. She smiled faintly as she watched the moment he let himself relax entirely. She could hardly believe that she was doing this – giving Daryl Dixon a hand job in her kitchen as he kept her pinned against the refrigerator but now that it was happening, she couldn't imagine spending her night any other way. She wondered what she had done to get him to look at her like this; to kiss her and grab her like he needed her.

"Beth," Daryl grunted as her hand began speeding up.

She still wasn't quite sure what she was doing but she let him and his reactions guide her. His heavy breathing, the way his fingers dug ito her hips, the way he grunted and thrust himself into her hand.

And she could feel the way his entire body tensed and seconds later, he groaned and he came – warm and spurting across her hand. Some landed on her shirt but she could care less about that as she looked at his face. She would never tell him but he looked so beautiful in that moment. He was completely relaxed and open to her in that moment. He had a thousand walls always surrounding him but right now, there was just him. Just him and her in this world and this with him is all she needed.

Daryl's eyes opened and he fell right into hers. He was still panting heavily but his breath was slowly returning to normal. He didn't say anything so she didn't either. There was a spell cast over them right now and she didn't want to speak and break it. So all she did was give him a warm a smile and her arms slid around his waist. And Daryl leaned into her then and rested his forehead to hers, closing his eyes once more. Beth closed her eyes, too, and she wondered if this was the best day of her life.

…

* * *

 **Smut isn't necessarily my strong suit so I hope this was good enough!**

 **Thank you so much for reading and please review!**


	17. Toffee Apple

**I made a huge mistake with this story and I'm embarrassed about it. I had written Carol as a woman who worked in the insurance office which Daryl lived in the apartment above but then I wrote Carol as Beth's college advisor. I feel stupid for making a slip like that and I'm sorry if you caught it. I'm going to be keeping her as Beth's college advisor.**

* * *

…

 **Chapter Seventeen.** Toffee Apple.

Daryl usually always woke up around dawn and this morning was no different. Everything else was different however. He wasn't in his own bed and he wasn't alone. Instead, he was lying on a snug double bed with a floral comforter and goose-down pillows that smelled like some sort of sweet. And the girl sleeping next to him smelled just as sweet and looked so damn peaceful and practically angelic as she slept. She was sleeping on her side and her hand was resting lightly on his stomach.

After what had happened in the kitchen, after what she had done to him, she had went to go change her shirt and wash her hands and then came back, both finally serving themselves plates of spaghetti and garlic bread and then going to sit on the couch and watch _The Wedding Singer_ on TV like Beth had originally planned. He had never seen it before and it was alright but the best part was Beth laughing to the jokes and every time she laughed, his own lips twitched in a smile.

After that, the network started showing _The Wedding Planner_ – "must be a theme night", Beth had mused – but sometime during the first hour, Beth had started falling asleep, her head resting on his shoulder. Daryl wound up sitting there for the entire movie but not watching it. Instead, he watched her and thought about how good her head felt on his shoulder and how her body seemed to fit right against his.

When the third movie of the night started up – _Wedding Crashers_ – Daryl finally moved. He stood up and gently slid his arms beneath Beth and lifted her up. She murmured something but remained asleep for the most part and he carried her down the little hallway into the apartment's only small bedroom. He laid her down as gently and slowly as he could but when he began to step back, Beth's hand suddenly grabbed hold of her arm and she started pulling him back towards her.

"Stay," she said to him, still half-asleep but her grip feeling stronger than it should have been for a little slip of a girl like her.

And for some reason, Daryl allowed himself to be over-powered by her and with a bit of hesitance, he laid himself down beside her on the bed. He listened to her breathing deeply and steadily from next to him and he watched the way the street light outside shone up onto the ceiling in the otherwise dark room. Beth shifted closer to him and he turned his head on the pillow, looking at her.

What the hell was this girl doing here with him? What the hell was he doing here? And why couldn't he imagine himself being anywhere else but here with this girl?

Daryl didn't expect to get a wink of sleep that night but here he was, his eyes blinking open and the bedroom now a light grey with the pre-dawn light. He wondered for a moment if he should sneak out of here before Beth woke up. No, he couldn't do that. If he did something like that, Beth might think he had just used her – even though he never planned on _that_ ever happening between them – and the last thing he wanted Beth to feel like was that she was nothing to him except a girl to make him feel good. He wanted to make her feel good, too. He just had no idea when to do it or even how.

He rolled himself onto his side so he was facing her and he took the time of her still sleeping to just look at her. He felt refreshed and rested and he didn't think he even slept that well in his own bed at his own place. And again, he was faced with an endless amount of questions – the main one being, as always, what the hell was it with this girl that made him feel so comfortable? Why was he able to sleep with her and turn himself over to her and allow himself to lose all sense of control around her? Why, when he was around her, did he just want to hold her and bury his face in her throat and never think of anything ever again?

He didn't know if Beth was an early riser like him or if she was the sort to sleep in a bit but his question was answered when just a few minutes later, she shifted and then slowly, her eyelids began to flutter open. He was the first thing her eyes saw that morning and the first thing she did was smile.

"You're still here," she said softly, her throat a bit scratchy with sleep.

"You wan' me to be?" He asked, his voice rougher than usual in the mornings.

She nodded and kept smiling and moving her head across the pillows so it was closer to his. "I don't want you anywhere else," she said as her hand came to a rest on his chest as if she was attempting to feel his heartbeat.

She seemed half asleep but she didn't close her eyes again. And Daryl wasn't the sort to just lie about in bed doing nothing but he realized that there was nothing that made him want to pull himself from that bed and stop being this close to Beth. She looked at him and he didn't look anywhere else but her. Slowly, he lifted his hand and she smiled faintly as he brushed some hair from her cheek.

"I've been thinkin' of my grandma a lot lately," he heard himself speak in a low, quiet voice and Beth smiled a little at his words.

"Tell me about her," she requested as she shifted closer to him.

His fingers slipped from her cheek and he then lifted it and lowered it, curling it around her hip. Beth's own hand slipped up from his chest and rested on the side of his neck, her fingertips cool and light on his warm skin.

"Been thinkin' how much she would 'ave liked you when I took you to go meet her," he said and she burst into a smile as soon as she heard that.

"Really?" She asked, almost breathless at just the prospect of that, smiling happily at the thought.

Daryl felt his own lips twitch in a little smile. "Yeah. She was the toughest woman I ever knew and she would have thought the same 'bout you."

Beth's smile slowly faded. "I'm not tough, Daryl."

"Yeah, you are," he instantly disagreed. "Tough 'nough to walk away from a guy you were in love with after he slaps you. Lot of women can't do it."

He had no idea why he was saying any of this – never said this much to anyone all at once – but there was something about lying in bed with Beth that morning as the sun slowly began peeking above the horizon. He thought of last night. How she had gone through so much trouble. Making homemade tomato sauce and baking brownies and opening herself and home up to him; wanting to be with him and celebrate something that had happened in her life. He knew she liked him but last night, for the first time since his Grandma Liv, he felt like someone honestly cared for him. He hadn't felt that in so long, he almost forgot what it felt like but Beth stood there, handing a plate to him and pulling parmesan cheese from the refrigerator and he watched her, his heart tightening in his chest.

And he never saw it coming – never saw _her_ coming – but he fell for Beth Greene right then and there.

"That morning, at the doughnut shop…" Beth was watching him closely. "When I told Rick I didn't want to press charges against Zach, I heard you snort as if you were expecting that. Why were you expecting that?" She asked him and Daryl could feel his fingers tighten around her hip.

How was it that Beth became the only person in this world who could read him?

He felt as if he had just swallowed a cotton ball – his throat thick and dry. "My ma," he then said barely in a whisper but Beth seemed to know already. She was looking at him and she didn't seem at all surprised with what he was saying. "Anne. She was Grandma Liv's daughter. And my dad… he beat the shit out of her. All the memories I got of my ma, she was either bruised or cryin'."

Beth didn't say anything but she shifted even closer to him and her fingers slipping to the back of his head, scratching through his hair and almost making him want to close his eyes at how soothing she was making him feel in that moment even as images of Anne and his old man flooded his mind.

"He would beat the shit out of me, too, but my ma tried to get in between us as many times as she could." He exhaled a breath. "He broke her. But she never left 'im 'cause she loved 'im. Grandma Liv would plead with her but it never mattered much to my ma. She stayed and it never stopped. Not until she died."

Beth leaned into him then, her lips pressing a kiss between his eyebrows. He exhaled another breath – this one shaky – and suddenly felt completely drained.

When had he ever said so much? When had he ever talked about his family?

He knew both answers.

But he didn't want to talk anymore and Beth was quiet, not asking him any questions. They laid there for he wasn't sure how long and Beth's fingers never stopped scratching through his hair, nails gently scraping his scalp. He was the one to move closer to her this time and his arm was now almost circled completely around her waist, pressing their bodies together.

There was more to tell her. About his old man and mom. About Grandma Liv and Grandpa Chris. Maybe he would even tell her about the years he had done nothing but trail after Merle with no other plan besides that and how Merle had overdosed and died, leaving Daryl completely alone in this world.

But he wasn't alone anymore. He had a good job and a nice apartment and a friendship with Rick and now, he had Beth, too. Whatever they were, he had her.

He was the one to kiss her first this morning and Beth pressed her lips against his before pulling back with a giggle.

"I have to brush my teeth," she said, her eyes looking as if they were shining.

"You one of those mornin' breath people?" He asked with a little smirk.

"I'm not entirely sure what one of those people are," she teased him back. "Everyone gets morning breath and I don't want you to kiss me when I still have mine."

"I got mornin' breath, too, then, you know," he said, not loosening his arm from around her waist and he chased after her lips, pressing against them for another kiss. And for a moment, he thought she had given in but then Beth pulled back once more with another giggle and he produced a little smile before he loosened his arm and Beth smacked a playful kiss on his forehead before getting up from the bed.

"I have an extra toothbrush in the closet," she told him. "How about we brush our teeth and then go see T-Dog for some doughnuts?" She suggested.

"A'right," he said as he sat up and grabbed his boots from where he had kicked them off the night before once he realized he was going to be sleeping in this bed with her.

He watched her leave the bedroom and heard her head down the hallway but she came back a moment later, standing in the doorway, staring at him.

"What?" He grunted as he stood up.

"You cleaned everything," she said softly, her eyes never leaving his.

Daryl shrugged. "Jus' put the spaghetti in your fridge and put the dishes in the dishwasher," he said. He didn't know how Beth was but he hated leaving a mess.

Beth looked at him for another moment and then she rushed to him, standing on her toes and throwing her arms around his shoulders in a hug. And Daryl wasn't too sure what to do so he patted her back, not sure why she was reacting like this to him just scooping some food up into a plastic container.

She pulled her head back and looked at him with a bright smile and it almost looked as if there were tears glassing in her eyes. She sniffled. "Come on. I have a toothbrush for you," she said and taking both of his hands, she walked backwards so she didn't have to stop looking at him and she led him towards the bathroom.

…

At T-Dog's, they sat in their usual booth and Rosita came, filling their cups with steaming fresh coffee and then went to go get them the doughnuts they picked.

"Still have plenty of time before work," she smiled at him as she shook a sugar packet between her fingers and then poured it into her coffee.

He nodded, chewing on his bite of doughnut. "I'm gonna head back to my place and change. What do you have today?" He asked.

"Morning class at nine. Piano lessons for a couple kids I teach back at my place and then the hardware store until close," Beth answered. "Sophia is one of my newer students but with her schedule, she can only make a four o'clock lesson so Otis lets me leave for a little bit so I can go back and teach and then come back to the store."

"That's nice of 'im," Daryl noted.

"Blatant favoritism," Beth smiled. "It's nice having one of my daddy's best friends being my boss."

Daryl smirked and gave his head a nod and took a sip of his coffee. He didn't know why he was waiting for Beth to say something about this morning. He should have known better than that. He had taken a chance and told Beth something about him that no one had ever known before. He was bracing himself for her to look at him with pity or to want to talk about this more but not Beth. She was laughing and talking about classes and the kids she taught piano and Daryl listened to every word she said, slowly feeling himself relax in the seat across from her.

He should have known. This was Beth and he should have known that it would have been alright telling her. He could tell her anything.

After they finished their doughnuts and two cups of coffee each, Daryl paid the bill, ignoring Beth's protests because again, the total came to barely five dollars and he told himself that he really had to put some money together and take her somewhere a hell of a lot nicer than any place in this town could offer.

He glanced at the clock on the wall before he followed her out. He still an hour before he had to be at work. He reached a hand out but even after everything, he wasn't sure whether or not he should touch her. His hand ghosted along the small of her back as he guided her to his truck and she smiled as he opened the door for her.

Once inside and he started driving them back to her apartment and he made sure he had the vents blowing heat on her, Beth reached into her messenger bag.

"I made you something," she said and then pulled out a blue plastic CD case. "I made you a mix of some of the Appalachian music I learned about in my class. I think you'll like it. I put a few versions of "Barbara Allen" on there so you can pick your favorite," she smiled at him.

"Yours," he answered without thinking about it and glancing at her as he stopped at a stop sign, he saw her smile soften and her cheeks were stained pink. "You wanna come over tonight?" He then asked before he even realized what he was doing.

"Really?" She asked and he couldn't help but wonder why she sounded so surprised.

What did she think? After everything that had happened between them in just the past twelve hours, he still would want nothing to do with her?

"Really. I know my place ain't as nice as yours-"

"I love your apartment," Beth was quick to interrupt him.

"-but I got a television and a few movies. You can pick one and we can watch it. I'll get us somethin' to eat too. Only if you wanna come over," he then added as he stopped on the curb in front of her apartment.

"Of course I want to come over. The store closes at seven," she said and he nodded, getting to memorize her schedule as well as he knew his own.

"I'll come and pick you up. So you don't walk in the dark," he said and she smiled and blushed again at that.

"I'll see you at seven then," she agreed and he felt his stomach churn as she slid across the seat so she was right beside him. "Thank you for breakfast," she then said softly, her eyes locked with his, her nose nearly touching his. Her breath smelled like lingering mint toothpaste and apple from her doughnut.

Daryl stared at her and he slowly lifted a hand to touch her cheek and he watched in amazement as her eyes slid closed and she smiled leaned into his touch. There was no stopping him after that. He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers and Beth instantly kissed him back, her fingers sliding through his hair and gripping his head. He kissed her again and again, breathing her in, wanting to swallow her whole. And Beth let out this little whimper that seriously made him want to just lower her on the front seat of his truck and never pull away from her.

But he couldn't because they were parked right on the street and he had to get to work and she had to get to class and this thing between them was only growing to eventually lead them there anyway. Neither of them had to rush. It would happen in its own time and when it did, Daryl refused to be scared or nervous. Just this morning, Beth had showed him that if he couldn't trust anyone else in this world, he could always trust her. And if he could trust her, she damn well sure be able to trust him and he was not going to be the kind of guy who rushed them into anything.

Beth was always the first one to pull away. She seemed far more aware of her burning lungs than he was aware of his own and she smiled, leaning in and resting her forehead to his.

"I can't wait to see you later," she breathed softly and he smiled a little. "Have a wonderful day at work," she then said.

"You have a good day, too," he echoed the sentiment and he wanted to kiss her again but Beth was wise to pull her head back then. They both seemed to know that if they kissed again, stopping might no longer be an option for them.

Beth slowly slipped away from them and she placed the cd case on the seat between them. His truck was old enough where it didn't have a cd player and he would have to wait until he got home that evening to listen to it. He didn't mind waiting though. It was just another thing to look forward to.

Beth slid back across her seat towards the door and her fingers curled around the handle. She opened the door but she didn't get out. Not quite yet. Instead, she looked back at him and her cheeks were still pink and Daryl didn't know if she was blushing or if she was still flushed from their kiss.

"I think I'm falling completely in love with you, Daryl Dixon," she told him and with one last smile, she got out of the truck then. She closed the door and gave him a little wave and then disappeared through the door, heading up towards her apartment.

But Daryl didn't move a muscle. He didn't even think of making an attempt to move.

He stared at the spot she had just been sitting in just a second ago and he had no idea what to do. He didn't even know if he was still breathing. If he blacked out right then, he probably wouldn't have even noticed.

 _I think I'm falling completely in love with you, Daryl Dixon_.

Someone who wasn't his relative had never said those words to him before. No one had never loved him before who didn't call him a brother or son or grandson. Beth had no obligation to him but there she was, telling him that she was falling in love with him and Daryl sat there, having no idea what else to do.

He did know one thing though. At least he thought he knew. He wasn't an expert though and he couldn't be absolutely certain but he had never felt it before so it had to be. Right? And he knew he should probably tell her the next time he saw her – later that evening after picking her up from work maybe.

He was pretty sure he was falling in love with Beth Greene, too.

…

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 **A shorter chapter than the others but a lot happened in this one and I wanted to end it on _that_ note. I promise to make the other one longer to make up for this one.  
**

 **Thank you very much for reading and please review! I have more things planned that I'm very excited to write for this story.**


	18. Pumpkin Crumb

**I keep making so many stupid mistakes in regards to the supporting characters in this story and I am embarrassed and I'm usually a better writer than this. I think I'm just working on too many stories at the moment and I need to stop and only focus on this one for the moment. It deserves my full attention.**

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…

 **Chapter Eighteen.** Pumpkin Crumb.

He didn't know why he felt nervous. It wasn't as if Beth hadn't been here before. Of course that time that she had, he hadn't wanted her anywhere near him and just the sight of her always made him scowl. But now, things were as different between them as they could be and Daryl watched as Beth moved around his apartment with the ease of someone who had been there way more times than just one.

Daryl didn't own that much but Beth looked at everything and always with a smile on her face and he wondered what was making her smile. He didn't ask though. He liked just watching her and looking at everything he owned like it was special.

He had picked her up at the hardware store at seven just as he said he would and she greeted him with a quick kiss on the lips and an overnight bag over her shoulder. She had blushed when he looked at it with a raised eyebrow and laughing a little, she shook her head.

"I doubt you have an extra toothbrush for me," she teased and he had smirked.

Silently, though, he was relieved – and not at all surprised – that Beth had shown initiave in making a decision about tonight. He wanted her to spend the night but he had no clue how to ask her to stay. He should have known Beth would make the decision for the both of them. He didn't care what she said. This girl was fearless.

"Who's this?" She asked then and he didn't have to look to know what she was referring to but he did anyway.

He only had two things in his apartment that would prompt that question.

"'s Grandma Liv," Daryl answered gruffly and then cleared his throat. "Only picture of her when she was young."

Beth smiled as she looked at it; at the black and white picture of the young teenager with light hair and freckles, knobby elbows and dirt on her chin. Daryl couldn't help but come up and stand beside her, looking down at the photograph as well. He had never had pictures but when he was little, Grandma Liv had given him this one as well as black and white picture of her and Grandpa Chris. They were the only two photographs he had. Grandma Liv had had a lot more but after she died, Will hadn't let him take anything with him when he left her house and as far as Daryl knew, everything had just been thrown away.

"Her family was too poor to have a camera. Too poor to have much of anythin' and she said that a man had come to the mountains one summer and took pictures for some article he was writin' 'bout the poorness in that area. She had never had her picture taken 'fore," he said, recalling the story Grandma Liv had told him.

Beth kept smiling. "You should frame it," was all she said before she placed it back on the shelf where he had it set. "And this one?" She asked, picking up the other picture. It was Grandma Liv standing next to Grandpa Chris, his arm around her shoulders and both her arms around his waist and it was just after they got married.

"Grandma Liv and my grandpa. Grandpa Chris," Daryl said, his voice quieter now.

Beth looked at the picture for a moment before tilting her head up to him. "You look like him," she noted.

That made him smirk and he shook his head. "Nah. I look exactly like my ol' man," he said even though he hated to admit that out loud. It was bad enough he had Will Dixon's blood running through his veins. It was pure hell looking in the mirror every morning and seeing that man staring back at him.

Beth shook her head though. "No, you do." She held the picture up beside Daryl's face. "You have the same nose," she said and with a faint smile, she ran a finger down the bridge of Daryl's nose. "And you're broad in the shoulders like he was, too," she said.

Daryl didn't say anything to that. There wasn't much of anything to say. Beth was wrong but he didn't want to tell her that. There was no point in it. If she wanted to think he looked like Grandpa Chris, it's not like she was inulting him with the idea.

"You hungry?" He asked, changing the subject, stepping away from her again.

He went into the kitchen and Beth followed a few steps behind.

"It smells delicious," Beth said, taking a big whiff of the air.

Daryl grunted and shrugged and didn't say anything as he grabbed two bowls from the cabinet. He didn't look at her as he went to the stove and lifted the lid of the beef stew. He had actually gone to the store and bought the beef meat on sale after work. He usually made his stew with rabbit but he remembered Beth said that eating rabbit reminded her of her dead mama and he didn't want her to be sad tonight.

He had gone into the grocery store and had hated himself a little for buying meat in a store because he was pretty sure he had never done that before in his entire life. All the meat he cooked at home, he hunted, killed and cleaned himself. And beef meat was damn expensive, he learned. But then he remembered that he had a job and could afford it and this was for Beth.

"Hey." Beth's voice was gentle and she reached out to touch his elbow lightly.

Daryl instantly turned his head to look at her.

"I'm sorry," she said and his brow furrowed.

"For what?" He asked.

She shrugged. "For making you talk about your family. I didn't mean to force you… You've gotten really quiet."

"I'm always quiet," he pointed out to her and she gave him a small smile. On impulse, he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "You don't gotta apologize. You didn' do anythin'. I'll tell you all 'bout 'em if you wan' me to."

She smiled a bit wider at that but shook her head. "Only if you want. _When_ you want," she said and he leaned down lower, kissing her on the lips this time.

Her hands lifted and he felt them on his cheeks as she kissed him back. She was such a little thing and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her body to his. Beth pushed herself up on her toes so he didn't have to bend down so much and he held her even tighter. He couldn't seem to be able to help himself. Whenever he held Beth, he couldn't seem to stand even the thought of letting her go.

He still didn't get it and he wondered if he ever would. He didn't get what he had done to have this girl standing in his kitchen, kissing him and wanting him as much as he wanted her. _I'm falling completely in love with you, Daryl Dixon_. Good things like Beth Greene never happened to people with the Dixon name. And a part of him was still waiting for all of this to just be all some big damn joke or dream.

He had been thinking about her words all day. She had been able to say them so easily and he was jealous of her for that. Love didn't confuse Beth or scare the shit out of her. This girl had lived her entire life surrounded by love and he figured she understood it as well as any person could. He figured she'd have to teach him about it because while he had admitted to himself that he had fallen for her, too, he had no idea how to go about telling her such a thing.

Daryl didn't think about what he was doing. He gently pushed her backwards until she was pressed against the counter and he kissed her deeply, his tongue diving into her mouth. Beth whimpered into his mouth and it only made him press tighter against her.

"What is with us and kitchens?" She murmured against his lips and he couldn't help but snicker at that. He pulled his head back and she giggled, gazing up at him.

He looked at her. At her blonde hair and her big blue eyes and her cheeks slightly pink and her matching pink lips, swollen from their kisses.

"You're the prettiest thing I've ever seen," he said to her before he could stop himself and he was glad he said it to her because the smile Beth gave him in response damn near took his breath away. "Come on," he was able to say than. "Slaved for hours over a hot stove for you, girl. You can't insult me by not eatin'."

Beth laughed at that and standing on her toes, she kissed his scruff-covered chin before Daryl took a step back, allowing her to step away from the counter he had her pinned to. He handed her one of the plastic bowls and spooned her out a large helping. He smiled a little as Beth leaned in and inhaled the heavy stew scent before flashing him a smile and heading towards the couch.

He owned a grand total of five movies and he placed them out on the coffee table so Beth could look them over and choose which one she wanted to watch that night.

Beth chewed on a mouthful of stew as she looked over each one. "For someone who likes to be out in the woods so much, you certainly like horror movies," she said to him as he sat down beside her.

Daryl smirked and didn't say anything to that. He settled back, watching her as she sat forward, taking her time in making a decision. She was wearing a black sweater that night and it had risen up a bit in the back so he could see a scrap of her skin between the bottom of the sweater and the top of her jeans. He found himself staring at it. Pale and so smooth looking and he wondered what she tasted like.

The thought, of course, immediately made the tips of his ears burn red.

Beth looked over her shoulder back at him and for one panicked moment, he worried that she had actually been able to read his mind. But all she did was smile and settle back beside him.

"This one," she said with a smile. He raised an eyebrow at her choice and she let out a giggle. "I've never seen it and if I get too scared, you'll keep me safe." She said it was such confidence and Daryl wasn't about to prove her wrong.

He got up and slid the disc into the cheap DVD player he had bought at the store one weekend and then settled down once more beside her. He watched the screen as the familiar pumpkin and opening credits of _Halloween_ began and Beth tucked her legs underneath herself and sat even closer to him as if she was already frightened. He glanced at her but her eyes were glued to the screen as she ate her stew slowly and Daryl sat there, very aware of her presence so close to him and he wondered what he should do. He still wasn't used to have this much human contact on a day-to-day basis and he had no idea how to react to it all.

So, he sat there like a useless lump on a log and told himself that he didn't have to do anything. He could just sit there and if she needed him, he'd be right there to keep her safe, just as she had said he would. Still, he felt like maybe he should do more.

"You finished?" He asked her after a little bit, nodding towards her bowl.

Beth smiled and nodded and he stood up, taking both her bowl and his back to the kitchen. There was plenty left but he didn't think he could eat any more. Even after everything, this girl had his stomach in damn knots and all she was doing was sitting next to him and filling his nose with her sweet scent.

He returned to the couch slowly. The apartment had grown dark except for the light on over the sink in the kitchen and the glow of the television. Daryl wondered if she would want a light on but as he came back to the couch and reached for the lamp on the small table next to it, Beth smiled up at him.

"Leave it off. It adds to the mood," she said.

Daryl paused a moment and then turned and sat down once again beside her. She gave him a small smile and he managed to give her a small smile in return. He told himself there was no reason to be nervous. He was just watching a scary movie with Beth on his couch in the dark. He could do this.

But then she moved closer to him and slipped both of her arms through his and hugged it to her chest, resting her cheek against his bicep as she watched the movie. He felt stiff for a moment but then he reminded himself that this was Beth and this was fine. This was better than fine. There was no reason to remind himself of anything. This girl had already told him that she was falling in love with him and he had admitted to himself that he was falling in love with her. He just had to relax. Beth cuddling up to him was just what Beth did. Beth was very comfortable with touches and affection. Daryl wondered if he would ever feel comfortable with it, too.

Maybe if he was with her long enough… How long were they going to be together? He wondered if she thought of that yet. He wondered if she already knew the answer. He wondered if he should know it, too.

He looked at her from the corner of his eye. She was squeezing his arm tighter now as Michael Myers killed another person on screen and he wanted to put his arm around her shoulders but she was hugging it tightly and that felt nice, too.

He wanted to touch her. Like she had touched him. She had given him a handjob and she had just seemed so brave when doing it. She had wanted to do that for him and she had just gone for it. She hadn't stood there and debated for the whole damn night about what she should do.

He wanted to be like that, too. He knew what he wanted. He just had to do it.

Daryl took a deep breath and then reached a hand out suddenly, grasping her breast.

"Oh!" Beth exclaimed in surprise and Daryl ripped his hand back as if he had been burned, feeling his face explode.

"Shit," he swore. "'m sorry. 'm so sorry, Beth."

He started to sit up but Beth sat up quickly, grabbing his arm, stopping him.

"No, Daryl. Don't apologize. It's okay," she said and he looked at her doubtfully. He wondered if she could see how red his face was. "You just surprised me."

God, that was even worse. He was like some fucking sniper or something and had scared the shit out of her. That wasn't what he had meant to do. He had meant to make her feel as good as she had made him feel last night.

He exhaled a deep breath and willed himself to look at her. She was looking at him too and she gave him a faint smile. She didn't say anything. She sat up a bit more and Daryl stared without blinking as she pulled her sweater up over her head. She dropped it onto the floor and then she stared at him with a faint, shy smile. She sat there in nothing but her jeans and bra. White and simple and cotton and Daryl had never seen anything fucking sexier than this. Even in the nude magazines and porn movies there were always around with Merle and his friends, Daryl had never seen another girl sexier and prettier than Beth Greene.

And then, Beth, still staring right at him and no where else, reached behind her back and Daryl swore he stopped breathing altogether when she unclasped her bra and pulled that off, dropping that onto the floor to join her sweater.

Topless. Beth was sitting topless on his couch. And he couldn't do anything except stare at her and her breasts and he couldn't even say a word. But he should have known that the longer he was silent, Beth would begin to feel doubtful of what she had just done. She began to fidget and then she slowly began to move her arm down towards her sweater as if to pick it up and put it back on.

Daryl finally moved. He snatched her arm and stopped her and she looked at him with slightly wide eyes and parted lips as if she was going to speak but no words came from her mouth.

"You gotta show me," he said and he hoped she knew what he meant.

He didn't know what he was doing. Even at his age, he was no expert at this. Even if he didn't hate the idea of being close to anyone like this, he probably wouldn't have thought to make the woman feel good in return. Merle had taught him most everything he knew about sex and returning the pleasure for his female partner was never Merle's priority when he was getting laid.

Beth smiled faintly then and he knew that she knew. Of course she knew. This was Beth and she just fucking got him and everything he said even when he didn't say it.

Gently, Beth reached over and took his hand and Daryl watched every movement she made. He turned a little closer to her and she brought his hand to her breast. They were very small but perfectly firm and round and he could feel the hardness of her nipple against his palm. As she slowly pulled her hand away from his, Daryl's hand remained on her breast and his fingers subconsciously squeezed.

"They're small. Like _really_ small-" she began to say as if apologizing.

Daryl leaned in and surprised even himself when he cut her words off with a kiss to her lips. The last of her words were muffled against his lips and then she sank into the kiss, happily returning it, as his hand continued palming her breast. He went on instinct. Maybe it was just like hunting. Maybe he just had to trust himself. He wasn't an idiot and Beth seemed to like what he was doing so far.

His hand continued to gently rub the mound. Massaging it and caressing it and feeling Beth's fingers slide back into his hair. He lifted his other hand and brought it to her other breast, giving it the same gentle treatment. He quickly noted that Beth liked the attention to her nipples as his palms rubbed them in circles and she moaned softly, kissing him with a bit more pressure.

He trusted his instincts and his instincts were telling him to do more than just kiss her. What though, he wasn't entirely sure, but as long as he moved slowly and gave her time to correct him, he might as well try.

He slipped his lips from hers and trailed them down the side of her throat – the pale, smooth column of flesh making him think that this was the right path to take. God, it wasn't just her mouth that tasted sweet.

His hands didn't stop their massage as his lips continued their path downwards. She moaned softly and it only encouraged him to keep going. He could do this. He just had to let Beth guide him. Still, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous as he moved lower.

He took a deep internal breath and went right for it. He moved his hand and then his mouth was on her breast. She gasped then and her fingers tightened in his hair and he knew this was the right thing to do. But he still didn't know what to do.

"Use your tongue," Beth whispered as if she could read his mind and she probably could. It wouldn't surprise Daryl if she actually could.

Daryl followed her instructions closely and he slowly swirled his tongue around her nipple. He was amazed when it somehow seemed to get even harder and Beth's breathing turned even more shallow. He licked and sucked and was feeling his jeans get tighter because every time Beth gasped or moaned or whimpered his name, his erection grew even harder. But this wasn't about him. His erection had already gotten attention. This was all about Beth tonight.

As he lavished all of the attention he could onto her breasts, Beth started to slowly lean backwards on the couch until she was lying down completely and Daryl hovered over her, his mouth never leaving her breasts. God, he was already completely addicted to them and he knew he was doing a pretty damn good job because Beth was practically pulling his hair now and her back kept arching and her moans were getting louder.

Daryl knew there were other things he could do; other parts on her body he could touch. But for now, he wanted to master this. He would suck and caress her breasts until she was pushing him away to stop. Hopefully, she didn't do that yet though because he was having a damn good time doing this for her right now. He couldn't stop. He sucked on her nipples and circled them with his tongue and he silently thanked Beth in his head for showing him how to do this because just from listening to her, he thought he was already pretty damn good at it.

Hopefully, Beth thought so, too.

"Daryl," she moaned loudly and then she suddenly let out a cry before her entire body stiffened.

Daryl stilled for a moment and then he lifted his head. Beth was panting heavily now and he could feel the tiniest trembles quake through her body.

"Did you jus'…" Daryl didn't even know how to finish that question.

Beth nodded and then closed her eyes, letting out a huff of laughter. "Yeah. I've always had sensitive nipples," she said and when she opened her eyes again, she looked right to him.

Her fingers were still gripping his hair and she smiled shyly – and he was amazed that she could be shy after just having an orgasm on his couch – before she tugged on his hair and beckoned him closer. And Daryl came quite willingly, putting himself right over her, and she smiled up at him. Daryl smiled a little, too. He then lowered his head to hers and they shared a soft kiss. Slowly, he lowered himself completely on top of her and he could feel her tiny body practically drowning beneath his. He was worried about crushing her but Beth didn't seem to be worried of the same thing. Her arms slipped around his shoulders and held him close on top of her, not letting him even think about moving off of her.

Her nipples were still hard and he could feel them through the cotton of his tee-shirt. He wondered if she could feel his erection through his jeans. She had to feel it. But still, he wasn't expecting a damn thing to happen about it. This night was all about Beth and he had succeeded. He had made her cum. He had made her cry out and feel good and he knew that that's all he wanted to do. Who cared about him when he could do this for Beth? He was a Dixon but he wanted to give her pleasure. Nothing but pleasure.

Beth ended the kiss first as always because her heart was still racing and she needed to breathe and as she turned her head to the side to look at the television, Daryl dropped his face to the side of her throat, burying it and inhaling her in deeply.

"Oh, no," she said. "I missed the ending. Did they get him?" She asked.

Daryl snickered without lifting his head. "Nah. That's why there's eight sequels."

"Oh." And then she giggled. "I liked my ending a lot more," she then joked.

He smiled against her throat and her fingers slid through his hair and then wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him close. And Daryl closed his eyes and wished he knew what to say because there was so much to say to her but he didn't know any of the words. He had never said them before. He couldn't even remember saying them to Grandma Liv. And for the first time in his life, he realized that he didn't want to say anything more than those words to Beth and there he was, almost forty and completely fucking clueless. But he knew this was one thing he didn't want Beth to teach him. This was one thing he wanted to figure out on his own.

He was a Dixon and one thing about Dixons. They wanted to do things on their own.

…

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 **Thank you very much for reading and please review!**


	19. Lemon Filled

**I honestly have no idea how people will react to this chapter. A lot of it is Daryl's inner thoughts. Please keep in mind that Daryl has a ton of lingering issues he has never fully addressed before. It will all be fixed though.**

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 **Chapter Nineteen.** Lemon Filled.

"Oh, Daryl," Grandma Liv lowered herself onto her knees as soon as she opened the front door and saw her young grandson standing on her front porch, trembling and crying. She lived a half hour away and she saw how out of breath he was and it was clear he had probably run the whole way here. How could a boy of seven run that far?

His face was wet with tears and his left eye was nearly swollen shut and Daryl could see her own eyes flood with tears as she looked him over.

"Where's your mama?" Liv asked though they both knew the question was a pointless one. Anne was starting to drink more and more and even when she was there, she really wasn't.

Daryl just shrugged.

"Come on." Liv got back to her feet and put a gentle arm around his shoulders. "Let's get you cleaned up. Have you eaten any lunch?" She asked though again, both knew that the question was a wasted one. He hadn't eaten lunch, breakfast and just a few crackers for dinner the night before that he had found buried in one of the cabinets in the otherwise bare Dixon kitchen. "Come on, baby," she said as she guided him into the bathroom.

She washed his face gently with a warm face cloth and he stood there, not crying anymore. His dad had already taught him at a very early age that crying didn't get him anything and he was already here with Grandma Liv and she was taking care of him and there was no point in crying anymore. Grandma Liv would take care of him until he had to go back home.

" _Twas in the merry month of May,_

 _When green buds all were swelling._

 _Sweet William on his death-bed lay,_

 _For the love of Barbara Allen._

 _He sent his servant to the town,_

 _To the place where she was dwelling._

 _Saying, You must come to my master dear,_

 _If your name be Barbara Allen."_

She began to sing softly as she finished wiping his face and then turned and began filling the bathtub with warm water and lilac-scented bubbles – not that Daryl cared what they smelled like. He loved taking bubble baths at his grandma's house. These were the only times he ever felt really clean.

"Come on now, Daryl. Give yourself a nice long soak and I'll wash your clothes and get some fresh ones for you to wear," Liv said with a gentle smile.

"I got in his way," Daryl mumbled and she kneeled down in front of him once more.

"You hear me, Daryl Dixon, and you hear me good," the older woman said with a stern voice but kind eyes. "You are _never_ in anyone's way. You hear me?"

Daryl looked at her for a moment through his one good eye and then slowly nodded his head. She gave him a faint smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and she kissed him on the forehead before standing up.

"Get in that water before it gets cold," she said and he looked at her, waiting for her to leave the bathroom because even though she had already seen every scar and bruise on his body, he still didn't like anyone looking at him.

She left and left the door ajar behind her and Daryl stripped himself before climbing into the tub and sinking down in the water and bubbles. He picked up the washcloth and after soaking it, he began scrubbing at his body tinted with dirt and he could hear Grandma Liv's muffled voice from down the hallway and he could hear her hard voice and he knew she was on the phone, probably talking to his mom – not that it ever did any good.

When she came back into the bathroom, his fingers were wrinkled and her eyes were red from crying.

"Come on, my little prune," she smiled at him. "Let's get you something to eat. I've got you some clean clothes to change into."

He wore a soft sweatshirt and jeans she had bought for him a couple of shopping trips ago that smelled like laundry soap and dryer sheets and she fed him hot chicken noodle soup and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and he ate it like he was starving – because he was. And after, he helped her wash dishes and listened as she sang songs like "Wayfaring Stranger" and "The Cuckoo" and she then made him a cup of hot chocolate as she fixed herself a cup of tea and Daryl wished for what he always wished when he was with her.

He wished he could live there with Grandma Liv forever.

…

"Hey," Beth smiled as she gently prodded his side and he quickly turned his head to look at her. "Where'd you go? You're a million miles away."

"Nah," he denied and shook his head though he had been and they both knew it. "Jus' thinkin' 'bout things I haven' thought about in a long time."

And Beth just gave him a small smile and he was grateful to her that she didn't ask for him to tell her about what his thoughts had been. He liked that he was remembering his grandma a lot more but that didn't mean that he liked many of the specific memories he had because even though every chance he got to spend with her had been a good memory, the reason as to why he was usually at her house was rarely a good one.

"You ready to do this?" She asked.

"Bareback?" He then asked, taking a look at the horse and lack of a saddle before looking at her as she smiled and rubbed a hand along Beauty's back.

"I ride him without a saddle all of the time. I figure, this first time, we could ride together," she said with a hint of pink to her cheeks. "And Beauty's a good horse. He'll go easy on us. Do you want to ride with me?" She then asked and she was teasing him now and he smirked, reaching out and sliding a hand over her hip.

"Never been on a horse before so I'm gonna need to hold onto you," he said and she laughed softly at that before she pushed herself up on her toes and kissed him.

"I'll never let you fall," she said, staring straight into his eyes, and Daryl felt his heart actually skip a couple of beats in his chest.

He wondered if she had any idea what she did to him when she said things like that; things only one other person in his entire life had ever come close to saying. He imagined Beth being just like his Grandma if he showed up on her doorstep with a black eye or a bloody lip or limping from the lashes of a belt on his back. Beth would take him inside her home and get him out of his clothes and tend to his in injuries and then would feed him chicken noodle soup and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and she would sing, too.

The first couple of times he met her, that first time he saw her that early morning in the doughnut shop, trembling and crying, she had reminded him of his mom. That was the main reason he had stood up and punched that ex-boyfriend of hers in the face; because he hadn't been able to do that to his own father when his mom was shaking and crying.

But Beth wasn't anything like his mom. Beth might not have thought so but she was tough and brave and he had loved his mom as much as he was able to but he never would have considered Anne Dixon to be either of those things in her life. Beth could take care of herself. Maybe that morning in the doughnut shop, he had been the one to punch Zach but he knew Beth now and he knew that eventually, she would have done it herself.

Beth Greene was not Anne Dixon. No. This girl was all Liv Harper. But that wasn't why Daryl had fallen for her. No. It was because she was her. Beth Greene. She was her own person and no one could compare and she completely had him.

Daryl realized that his mind was wandering again and he shook his head, forcing himself to come back there to the barn with Beth. They had gone over to her dad's house for Saturday night pizza and a movie. It had been Glenn's choice this week and he had chosen _Back to the Future_ which no one vetoed and they all sat and watched and laughed and ate both pizzas that Glenn had brought with them. Daryl sat there with Beth tucked into his side and he smiled as the others all said their favorite lines that they had memorized and laughed at the jokes and for a little bit of time, he felt like he was part of the family.

After dinner, Beth asked if he wanted to take Beauty for a ride and Daryl had no reason to tell her no. He had never been on a horse before but that didn't mean he didn't want to. The first time he saw Beauty, he knew he had wanted to ride him whether he would ever get the opportunity or not and Beth seemed to know that because she smiled and asked him in that sweet way of hers and before he could even really answer, she was already taking his hand and walking him towards the barn.

Beth had an overturned crate next to Beauty and Daryl watched as she mounted the horse easily. She then looked to Daryl, smiling, waiting for him to do the same. Daryl stepped onto the crate and he was a little nervous to be doing this but he wasn't going to show that to Beth. He followed what she had done and swung himself up onto the horse, settling himself down behind her.

"Make sure you don't squeeze your knees into his sides," Beth advised and Daryl almost asked her why not but he knew that Beth wouldn't say that unless it was important to know so he made damn sure he didn't squeeze anything on this horse's body with anything from his. "And put your arms around my waist. I don't need you falling off. You could get hurt and then what would I do?"

Daryl smirked a little at that and put his arms around her waist as Beth led Beauty out of the barn. He still felt his nerves bundled in his stomach but Beth rode them slowly and Beauty walked almost lazily from the barn through the grass. He didn't know where Beth was taking him but Daryl realized that it didn't really matter because he was with Beth and he was riding a horse and there wasn't really anything better in this moment then that.

And, of course, riding Beauty made him think of Grandpa Chris, who according to Grandma Liv, had loved horses more than any other animal. For never having met the man and for going so many years without thinking of him, Daryl had been thinking of him so much lately and he knew it was because of the girl sitting in front of him.

His Grandpa Chris had grown up a farm boy in Northern Georgia, near the Blue Ridge Mountains where Grandma Liv got off the bus that day and stayed off. His family had horses and cattle and pigs and when he wasn't working at the gas station, he was helping his dad take care of the farm or getting people to fix broken machines on other farms. Daryl had always been good with mechanics and engines and he wondered if he had gotten that part of him from his grandpa. He liked to imagine that he got one thing from the man and that not everything inside of him was strictly Dixon.

Just like Grandma Liv, Daryl knew that Grandpa Chris would love Beth. They could probably talk horses and Beth would show him Nellie and Beauty and Grandpa Chris would like that Daryl had found himself a farm girl and he could imagine him and Hershel getting along, too. And Daryl would keep seeing Beth and they would all become a family.

"Are you okay?" Beth asked suddenly, tearing through his thoughts.

"Fine," he grunted shortly and he realized that he was squeezing his arms around her waist. He loosened his hold and pulled his chest a bit away from her back.

For a second, he wished he wasn't up on that horse with her. He wanted to just stalk away and keep away from her for a few days but he couldn't. He could tell Beth that he wanted to get down but she would probably ask him if he was alright and be so genuinely concerned about him, it would do nothing but piss him off even more right now.

He liked pretty much everything about being with Beth. She made him feel good – and not just when she was actually trying to make him physically feel good. This girl could make him feel warm from the inside out just with one of her smiles or a soft hum of a song. This girl was walking sunshine and for some reason, she liked shining all of it on him. She liked hugging him and kissing him and taking her shirt off around him and having his dirty rough hands running over her skin. She liked _him_. She fucking loved him.

And Daryl knew he was damn lucky for that because it had been years since something so good had been in his life but this time, he found himself hoping that Beth would be able to stick around much longer. But that was just something else that pissed him off because not only did being around Beth make him remember so many things he had long since shoved out of his mind, not wanting to ever remember them again, but it also made him wish for things that couldn't possibly happen.

His grandparents were dead and they were never going to meet Beth. They weren't going to be some big fucking happy family. They were dead and his mom was dead and his brother was dead and Daryl didn't have a single fucking person in this world because even hoping for Beth to stick around was fucking stupid and pointless. She was here now, sure, and she was bringing him around for her family's Saturday pizza and movie nights but she probably did this with all of the guys who had been in her life before him. He wasn't special.

He was just a guy she had found during a shit time in her life and she was probably only doing this with him because she felt like she owed him something.

It wasn't going to last. How could it? Nothing in his life did. He'd lose Beth and he'd probably lose his good warehouse job soon enough, too, and after that, he'd have to leave town and drift off to the next one. Just like he had been doing his whole damn life. He was fucking falling in love with this girl and he hated himself for it.

"Daryl," Beth said his name and he realized he was squeezing his arms too tight around her again. She looked at him over her shoulder, a crease between her eyebrows.

And suddenly, he had to get off this horse and get the hell away from this girl and the farm and everything inside of his head that she was putting there.

"I wanna head back," he said, surprising even himself with how hard he sounded.

"Oh!" Beth's eyes widened a little. "But I was going to show you…"

Daryl wasn't sure what expression was on his face but whatever it was, it made Beth slowly trail off and close her mouth and she gave her head a little nod.

"Okay," she said quietly and then gently turned Beauty back in the way they had come.

As soon as they were back in the barn, Daryl slid off the horse's back and barely waited until Beth was off, too, until he was stalking out of the barn.

"Daryl!" Beth called after him but he didn't stop.

He dug his keys from his pocket and headed for the truck. He had given Beth a ride there that evening but he didn't stop to give her a ride back. Someone in her family would be able to drive her back to her apartment. He knew he was acting like a dick and the Greene family would probably think that about him but he couldn't stop himself. This wasn't his fucking family. Who gave a shit what they thought of him? For most of his life, people had been looking their noses down at him. Why would the Greene family be any different?

"Daryl!" Beth called out again and he could hear her behind him but he still didn't stop.

He didn't look at her. He _couldn't_ because if he did, he'd be completely fucked and hadn't this girl already fucked enough of him up? He admitted to himself that he was falling in love. Actually falling in love and what did he know about it? He had never been in love before and had only had it touch him briefly in his life before it had been snatched away from him. He had gotten this far in his life without love and he still didn't need it. He survived just fine without it and ever since Beth came into his life, she had been mixing everything up and making him remember and hope and wish and fuck her. _Fuck. Her._

"Daryl, wait!" Beth sounded upset now. Maybe even a little desperate to get him to stop and he could hear that slight tremble in her voice like she had sounded that morning in the doughnut shop; like she was about to start crying.

Daryl climbed into his truck and slammed the door behind him and he glanced as Beth through the windshield for only a second to see her standing there, looking after him, seeing the upset clear on her face, before he turned the engine over, shifted into drive and sped down the dirt drive with gravel kicking up under his tires.

And when he got home again, his heart still pounding and his rapid breath flaring through his nostrils as if he was a pent-up bull, ready to be let out at the sight of red, he slammed the door and stormed right up to the two pictures he had. The only two pictures he had in his entire life. He didn't even have a picture of himself. He grabbed Grandma Liv and Grandpa Chris and ripping open a drawer in the kitchen, he shoved them inside and slammed the drawer shut again so he didn't have to look at them anymore.

They were dead and they weren't coming back and fuck Beth for making him think of them again. Forgetting them had been the only way he had survived this long and nothing or _no one_ was going to open him up to any kind of pain again.

…

Beth called him a couple of times but he never picked up and he never thought he would be so grateful for caller id. He was grateful when she seemed to take the hint and stop. He went to the doughnut shop in the mornings, still, and expected to be there, too, in a chance of getting to see him and engage him in a conversation he didn't want to have but Beth wasn't a stupid girl. She knew he didn't want to see her and she seemed to be staying away. She stopped coming to the shop in the mornings and she didn't come to see him at work on his lunch breaks anymore.

Good. He didn't need to have Beth Greene in his life. She was just in it for a little bit anyway. Long enough to fuck everything in his head up but not long enough for him to get used to her. That's what he told himself anyway because he knew it was bullshit but he wasn't going to admit that to himself. He wasn't going to think of her sweet smell or her light kisses or warm smiles. He wasn't going to think of how she had said she was falling in love with him or the way he had admitted to himself that he was falling in love with her, too.

It was all bullshit and none of it had been real. It had all just been a lie he told himself because she reminded him of someone he used to know. That's all it was. He was missing someone from his past and Beth had stepped in and he was projecting his issues on her, expecting her to fix everything; to fix him.

Beth was probably hurt right now but she would realize soon enough and she would be fucking relieved that Daryl had pushed himself away from her. She was too young to be playing some red neck's head shrink. She couldn't save him and he was an asshole for thinking that she could. He didn't need to be saved anyway. Not anymore. No one was beating on him everyday anymore. He was on his own and the only person he needed was him. He learned so long ago that he couldn't rely on anyone because they either left or they died – and weren't those two things pretty much the same?

Georgia didn't get a ton of snow but it still got some and when the first flurries began to fall of the season, there was a knock on his door. Daryl has no intention of opening it but he went to it anyway and took a look through the peephole. Sure enough, it was Beth standing in the hallway with a yellow knit hat on her head that seemed to match her hair.

He looked at her face. The way she stood there, biting down on her bottom lip, the way she seemed to hesitate before lifting her fist and knocking on the door again. The way her eyes glassed over with tears when he didn't answer. She probably knew he was inside. Maybe she even knew that he was standing right on the other side of the door.

She raised her fist to knock again but she then stopped herself before she could. She exhaled a soft breath and closed her eyes for a moment. Daryl swallowed a cotton ball that had appeared and lodged in his throat. She looked so damn sad right then and he almost reached down to the knob to open the door but he stopped himself because what the hell would happen if he opened that door? She would think he wanted her again in his life and he would think again that he was falling for her and this whole thing would happen again and the sooner they could just both move on from the other, the better.

Beth reached into her messenger bag and pulled out something wrapped in brown paper. She bent down and set it on the floor in front of the door. She looked to the door for one last long look before she finally turned and headed down the stairs. Daryl stood there for a few minutes – making sure she was completely gone – before he finally opened the door a crack. He looked to what Beth had left on the floor and he then picked it up, pulling it inside with him and locking the door once more.

He knew what it was before he even unwrapped it.

He pulled the paper away from the square-shaped box and when he set it down on the counter and lifted the lid. He knew it. There were two picture frames inside. Wood painted black and a note on top – words written in Beth's neat cursive.

 _For your Grandpa Chris and Grandma Liv._

Daryl stared at the words and at the frames and he thought of how the two pictures were still shoved in that random kitchen drawer.

There were two more words written at the bottom of the paper and Daryl stared at them.

 _I'm sorry._

He clenched his jaw and his hands curled into fists without even realizing it. Apologizing. She was fucking apologizing even though she hadn't really done a damn thing to him. Apologizing because he was angry and she hoped that her apology would make it better.

Just like his fucking mom used to do. So that must mean the rest of it was true.

He really was just like Will Dixon. No matter what he did or how hard he tried, he would never be able to get away from that.

…

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 **Thank you very much for reading and please comment!**


	20. Bismark

**This story's actually almost done but I have a few more things planned for the last few chapters. Beth's POV will be the next chapter because with where this one ends, I feel like her POV will be necessary.**

* * *

…

 **Chapter Twenty.** Bismark.

Daryl's mind was already racing as he slowly walked around the large room that served as both the kitchen and the living room. A couple of the windows were broken so he would have to fix those. The roof would need some patching, too, and all of the gutters would have to be replaced. Little stuff really. Stuff he could probably do with his eyes closed.

"I know it isn't the prettiest place in the world," Rick began to say from where he was still standing in the front doorway. "But I've been keeping my eye out for you."

Daryl crouched down in front of the fireplace, filled with dead leaves that had fallen in from the chute. "'s perfect," he said, standing up again and turning towards Rick, who was smiling now, quite pleased with himself. "You think the bank would give me a loan?"

Rick shrugged. "No reason for them not to," he said. "You got a good, steady job with a good, steady income and I can't imagine you'd have to get that big of a loan to get this place."

Daryl nodded and didn't say anything as he looked around again. The cabin was as simple as they came. A large living space with a kitchen and a door that led to a bathroom. And then some creaky stairs led to a loft above where a bed could be kept. And the best part of this whole thing was it was in the woods. Not as deep as he would have really loved but he would definitely still be by himself. There was creek close by where the cabin drew water from and a gas-powered generator in the cabin's back mud room. He'd be completely on his own and he wouldn't have to rely on anyone for anything.

Just the way he liked it.

There was just one little problem and he didn't know what to do about it. He could ask Rick and he knew that Rick would help him. Hell, Rick had found him this place as soon as it went on the market without Daryl even asking him, too. Rick obviously considered Daryl a friend and friends were able to ask their friends for a favor when they needed it.

Daryl cleared his throat. "You think you can come to the bank with me?" He asked, not really able to Rick's eyes as he asked the question.

Truth was, he had never been inside of a bank before – not until he got the job at the warehouse and Abraham explained that the company didn't hand out checks but had direct deposit. Daryl had no idea what that was or what he was doing when he walked into the town's little bank but one of the bank tellers had taken pity on him and walked him through the whole process of opening a checking account.

Rick smiled and didn't ask Daryl why he would need him to come with him. "Course, man."

Daryl figured it was pretty obvious. What did some stupid redneck know about going to a bank and asking about home loans? All he knew was he really wanted this place, it wasn't that expensive and if he managed to keep his warehouse job, he'd be able to afford it with no problems. It wasn't as if he hated his apartment. It was nice and fit his needs just fine and wasn't that far from work. But he hated the idea of others living so close around him and sometimes, he felt like he was living in nothing more than a box.

Rick glanced over his shoulder to the real estate agent who had unlocked the cabin for them and was now waiting for them outside as they looked around and he then came closer to Daryl.

"Let me handle the talking out there," Rick said in a lowered voice. "There's no way you should be paying full price for this place. I'll negotiate with her."

Daryl almost refused the offer but he stopped himself before he could. Negotiating with real estate agents was definitely another thing he knew absolutely nothing about. He didn't even know you _could_ negotiate. He thought that the price listed was the price that was paid.

Outside, he tried to follow Rick and the woman as they went back and forth with one another with a few pauses as the agent called the guy who was selling his cabin and after a few minutes, Rick grinned when the agent agreed to seventy-five thousand and he slapped a hand on Daryl's shoulder as the real estate agent turned to Daryl and smiled at him.

"Congratulations, Mr. Dixon," she said and held out her hand.

Daryl gave her a nod of his head and shook her hand, still trying to catch up with everything that had just happened. Was this place really now his? He guessed he would have to wait until after the bank to see if he was approved for any kind of loan but if they did give it to him, he now owned his own place. His own cabin in the woods. That was all he had wanted for most of his life. A home of his own.

He turned and looked at it. To most people, it wouldn't look like much and they would probably think it needed too much work and wasn't worth it but Daryl stood there and looked up at it and was able to see everything it could be.

He almost wanted to call Beth and tell her but he did his best to squash that down as soon as the thought rose in his mind. He hadn't talked to her in a couple of weeks – and hadn't seen her since she had stood in his hallway and dropped off the picture frames – and he wasn't going to give in now. He missed her but he hated a part of himself for missing her. She had just been a girl. A girl who had randomly come into his life who shouldn't have been there in the first place.

He knew Beth would be happy for him. She knew how much he loved being out in the woods and she would probably be able to look at this rundown cabin and see how great it could be, too. She wouldn't think Daryl was crazy for wanting to buy it. She would probably stand here next to him and offer to help him fix it up. That was just who Beth was. She was a nice person. Too nice almost. And always so capable of seeing the good in anything and anyone. Even him when there wasn't anything good to find.

He and Rick got back into the Sheriff's car that Rick had driven them out here in and Daryl still wanted to smirk to himself that he was riding in the _front_ seat of a Sheriff's car – if only Merle could see him now – and drove them back to town and straight to the bank.

Daryl tried his hardest not to get his hopes up. He didn't own the house yet. He hadn't signed any papers yet. He had to wait to see if the bank felt like trusting him or not to pay them back the money he borrowed and honestly, he wouldn't really blame them if they denied him any kind of loan. They probably could look at him and see the drifter he used to be and wonder how much longer he'd be able to keep his job.

He and Rick were shown to a little glass cubicle off the bank's main floor and he wasn't exactly surprised when he saw the nameplate on the desk and the woman sitting in a chair behind it. He almost wanted to smirk. Of course. With his luck, it was almost to be expected.

Maggie Rhee.

And she lifted her head from the pile of papers in front of her and her eyes widened slightly when she saw Daryl step into her cubicle.

Rick smiled. "Hi, Maggie. They told us to come and see you about getting a loan."

It took her another moment to look away from Daryl and actually hear what Rick had said.

"Of course." She actually managed a smile and waved her hand over the two seats in front of her desk. "Please take a seat. Now, which one of you needs the loan and for what?"

Daryl didn't want to talk. He could just imagine how much Beth had already said and he could just imagine what her family thought of him for the way he had sped out of there after the horse ride without saying anything to any of them and leaving Beth behind. He didn't know Maggie _that_ well but he knew enough to know that she was pretty protective of her little sister and to an older sister, Daryl was nothing than some asshole and Beth was lucky to have him out of her life.

There was no way this bank was going to approve him for anything.

Rick looked to Daryl and waited for him to speak, letting him know that he wasn't going to do all of the talking for him.

Daryl forced himself to look at her as he answered. "Was lookin' to get a loan for a cabin I'm wantin' to buy."

He gave Maggie credit for not refusing him right then and there. Instead, she turned in her chair to a filing cabinet next to her, pulling out a folder of papers. "That's great, Daryl," she smiled and she almost sounded genuine. "You can fill these out and we'll get you started."

Daryl took the papers and his eyes glanced over all of the questions. "What's a credit line?" He asked, his brow furrowed.

"Your credit card, your score for that," she answered though he didn't know how much of answer it was since he was still pretty damn confused.

"And if I don't got a credit card? I can't get a loan?" He asked.

"Of course not," Maggie smiled gently. "Do you just pay for things in cash then?"

He nodded.

Maggie turned to the computer screen and her fingers flew over the keyboard, keys clacking as she typed in something quickly. "And you have your paycheck deposited into a checking account here every two weeks," she said, looking over the amounts deposited and then she turned back to her desk. Her fingers flew over a calculator next. "And how much is this house you're looking at?"

Rick spoke this time. "Seventy-five."

Maggie nodded and then clacked a few more keys on her calculator. When she lifted her head up and looked at Daryl again, she was smiling. "I think this shouldn't be a problem at all, Daryl."

And Daryl exhaled a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding and he felt himself smiling, too. Again, Beth entered his mind. He supposed it didn't help that Maggie had a picture of the Greene family framed on her desk. It was her wedding day and she was wearing her white dress and Glenn was standing next to her in his black tux. Shawn was standing in his own black tux with his arm around Glenn's neck and Glenn had his hands around Shawn's throat in a playful strangle. Beth was standing on the other side of Maggie, wearing a bridesmaid dress of dark blue and the sister's arms were around one another in a hug, their cheeks pressed together and their smiles wide and matching.

It was a silly family picture but even in a picture like that, Daryl could see how pretty Beth was. Her long blonde hair had been styled in a braid, pinned up around the crown of her head and the dark blue dress just emphasized her pale skin and the blue of her eyes. Beth Greene. The prettiest girl he had ever seen and would ever see again. Too pretty for the likes of him. It was just another way which showed Beth didn't have any business being anywhere near around him. She needed to be with one of those pretty boys closer to her in age. She needed a boy who was in college and getting ready to graduate.

She needed a boy who worked in the office and not in the warehouse.

"I gotta get back to work. I bring these back to you?" Daryl asked, holding up the papers.

"Yep. You can drop them off right here to me. I'm here until five," she said, standing up and the two men got to their feet as well. They exchanged thank yous and handshakes and Daryl knew it was a coward thing to do but he got out of that cubicle before Maggie could talk to him about anything other than his qualifications for a loan.

Rick drove them through the McDonald's drive-thru and then dropped Daryl back at the warehouse, Daryl thanking him before heading back inside to get back to work for the afternoon. Any moment he had to spare, he would look at the application on the counter next to the keyboard and he would read over the blanks he had to fill in and he wondered if he was really doing this. If he filled this application out and his loan was approved and he was able to buy that cabin with no problem whatsoever, that means he would be staying here. This town would be his home and after spending seventy-five thousand dollars on something, Daryl couldn't just imagine picking his stuff up and heading somewhere else.

Was it really that bad here though? He already knew that answer before he could even fully form that question in his head. Nah, it wasn't bad here at all. A little town with a little university who gave the town plenty of money. He had a good job with a nice boss and coworkers he didn't hate. He was friends with the Sheriff and went over to his house sometimes for dinner or to just hang out with the man and his family. And now, he would have his own little place in the woods like he had always wanted.

He filled out the form and imagined what the cabin would look like once he was done with it. He wouldn't be in some little apartment and he'd be able to get more bird feeders. He'd probably get some squirrels, too, and other little animals eating the seeds. He'd go to sleep in his bed in that loft, listening to the crickets, and wake up to the birds chirping.

Yeah, he'd stay. He had a routine here. A _life_. And it was a pretty good one and he didn't expect to ever have a life this good. No one in the Dixon family had had something like it, that was for sure. Not Will or his mom or his brother. He had had cousins and they had wound up the same way Merle did. Either dead or in prison. Daryl had gotten away from it though. He wasn't sure how it happened but it had.

He finished filling out the form and looked it over. He stared at his name at the top. Daryl Dixon. _Dixon_. He was a Dixon filling out a loan application and trying to buy a house. He was a Dixon with a checking account and a job with benefits and a 401K plan. He was a Dixon who was friends with the Sheriff and who people saw and smiled at instead of crossing the street when they saw him coming his way.

He was a Dixon who had a girl who loved him.

 _Beth_.

Beth had been falling and had she completely fallen before he pushed himself away?

He had been trying to do the right thing because no one in his family ever had before. He was trying to save her from the hurt that men in his family were only capable of giving out. He just wanted to keep her safe – from all of that and from him, too, because he was nothing but his father's son.

Wasn't he?

He was but when he was with Beth, he started to get the idea that maybe he was something more. Or that he _could_ be something more. Beth made him believe like maybe not everything in his life was all so hopeless and that girl looked at him like he was already somebody. Somebody good and somebody who deserved to breathe the same air as her.

When he was with Beth, he thought like maybe he was Grandpa Chris's grandson and not Will Dixon's son. She made him think that about himself and why did he hate her for that? She saw something good in him and he had lashed out and backed away and made her think that thinking anything like that about him was all wrong.

But it wasn't. It couldn't be. Grandma Liv had believed in him and he hadn't thought she was an idiot for that. No. Being around Grandma Liv was the only time in his entire life where he felt like maybe he was something more than what Will Dixon told him he was. And Daryl hadn't felt that again until Beth came into his life.

At four, he made sure all of the doors to the warehouse were locked up tight and his computer system was shut down before he tucked the application safely in his pocket before he rode his bike straight back to the bank. Maggie was in her cubicle, clacking away at the computer, and she smiled when she saw him in the entry.

"Hello, again," she said and once again, gestured for him to sit down.

Daryl sat down and handed her the application without a word and his eyes fell back on the picture taken on Maggie and Glenn's wedding day. He liked the Greene family. He really liked them and they had been nothing but nice to him. At first, he had thought it was just because of what he had done to Zach but that wasn't it. They were nice to him because they were nice people and had willingly opened their home up to him.

"How is she?" He heard himself ask before he even realized it.

Maggie stopped reading over his application and she looked at him. "Sad," she answered after a moment of clearly thinking whether she should tell him or not.

Daryl nodded and lowered his eyes to his hands. "Sorry," he then murmured.

"We're not the ones who need your apology, Daryl," Maggie stated.

She then took a stamp and Daryl lifted his eyes, watching as she pressed it down on the top page of the application. She then held it back out to him to take. He stared down at the red stamp "APPROVED" across the top.

"You buying the cabin through Jacqui?" Maggie asked and Daryl nodded, still staring down at the red letters.

Approved. Just like that. He was getting a loan and he was getting his cabin. He was going to own his own home. After going this long without one, he was finally going to get what he always wanted.

And damn it, he wished Beth was here with him.

Maggie had picked up her phone and had dialed a number. She paused for a few moments. "Hi, Jacqui. It's Maggie," she smiled and then paused as Jacqui replied from the other end. "I have Daryl Dixon sitting in my office and I've just approved him for a home loan. Could you do me a favor and draw up the papers for that cabin he was looking at today so we can get this going for him?"

Maggie smiled at whatever Jacqui said and then pulled the phone away from her mouth, putting her hand over the receiver. "Can you go to her office tomorrow?" She asked.

"My lunch hour is at noon," Daryl nodded, sitting up a bit straighter in his chair.

Maggie smiled back into the phone. "He can be there around noon tomorrow." Another pause. "Excellent. Thanks, Jacqui!"

Maggie hung up the phone and Daryl looked at her, waiting, feeling the palms of his hands sweat though he didn't know why he was nervous anymore. This was really happening. With the help of Rick and Maggie, he was going to be able to go and sign whatever papers Jacqui had for him and he would own his own home. He'd be completely lost if he had been too stubborn to accept their help and this would never happen for him otherwise.

"Okay. When you see her tomorrow, you're going to give her a check for $7500, your down payment, and you'll sign some papers and she'll give you the keys and that will be that," Maggie smiled. "And then you'll see me again and we'll figure out how much you would be able to pay us back each month."

Daryl didn't know what to say. He wanted to give her his thanks at least a thousand times but for now, the words were clumped in his throat and he wasn't able to ask anything except for one question and he couldn't help it even if he wanted to.

"Why are you helpin' me so much?" Daryl asked.

Maggie didn't look surprised. "Because it's my job," she stated and Daryl gave a nod because he should have already known it was that. "And because you're important to Beth so you're important to us, too."

…

Daryl told himself that there was no reason to be nervous but of course there was and of course he was.

He didn't know how long he stood in the hallway outside of her door but it could have been hours. He told himself again and again to just knock and see if she answered or if she watched him through the peephole and ignored him like he had ignored her. He would deserve it. He didn't try and tell himself that he didn't. If Beth didn't want to talk to him again or see him again, he had no one to blame but himself.

But Beth wasn't like him. She was too nice and sweet and she didn't have personal issues stretching as far as the eye could see that made her unable to act like a decent human being. Beth would take pity on him. He knew it. So why the hell couldn't he just knock?

Finally, gathering enough courage within himself, Daryl lifted his fist and banged harder than he intended, almost wincing as he heard the wood tremble. If she already didn't know that he was out there, he probably just scared the shit out of her.

Not exactly what he wanted.

He heard a tumble of locks after a moment and the door slowly opened. Beth stood there and he took a moment to just stare at her. It had been a couple of weeks but it might as well had been a couple of years and he wondered if he'd ever be able to tell her how much he missed her when she was gone.

He didn't know if he could explain it though in a way that made sense. That filling out a loan application for the bank had finally made him realize that he was nothing like his family before him and that he had taken his shit out on her and she didn't deserve that. No one did. She had never seemed to doubt that he was something so much more and since she came into his life, so many good things had happened – the biggest being he was happy.

Beth Greene made him happy and he wanted the shot at making her happy, too. He wasn't Will Dixon or any of the Dixons. He was himself and he could make her happy if he tried.

She was wearing blue jeans and a black and yellow striped sweater and she looked like a bumblebee. She looked perfect.

And she was looking at him, waiting for him to say something.

Daryl swallowed. "'m takin' a trip this weekend up to the Blue Mountain Ridge. I haven' seen my grandparents' graves in a long time and I figured it was time I get back there. I was wonderin' if you wanted to come with me."

He stood there, his lungs burning as he didn't breathe. He waited for her to close the door in his face without saying a word to him and he would deserve that. Hell, he would deserve a lot more punishment from her but he knew Beth and he reminded himself that she was too nice to do that. But if that's what she wanted to do, he wouldn't fight it. If she wanted to scream at him and yell and hit him, he would stand there and take it and only hope she would want to talk with him once all of the anger had passed.

Beth kept looking at him and he stood still so she could look her fill. She was looking closely at his face as if she was looking for something and he didn't know exactly what it could be but whatever she was looking for, he could only hope she was able to find it.

And then finally, after an eternity, Beth sighed a soft breath and nodded her head slightly.

"Alright," she agreed in a quiet voice.

And Daryl stared at her and all he wanted to do was kiss her. He thought of how she had been so bold with him and how he had tried with her but had failed miserably. He wanted another chance but he was able to hold himself back before he could do anything so stupid. He couldn't kiss her until he apologized and even then, he didn't know if she would want him to. He generally hated to but for Beth, he would. For Beth, he would have a conversation with her and they would figure out what they were and he only hoped that the conversation went in the direction he hoped for it to.

…

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 **Not the most action packed chapter but it leads into what is going to happen in the next one.**

 **Thank you very much for reading and please review!**


	21. Chocolate Butternut

**The shortest chapter of the story but with everything that takes place in this one, it had to stand on its own.**

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…

 **Chapter Twenty-One.** Chocolate Butternut.

She wasn't entirely what to pack and she was sure she brought way too many things but she'd rather have too much than not enough. Daryl didn't say anything as he came to her apartment to pick her up on Saturday morning and took the tote bag, slinging it onto his shoulder and asking if she had everything.

She nodded but then remembered something and hurried back inside to her kitchen. When she came to the door again, Daryl stood there and stared at the flowers she had in her arms.

"I went to the store yesterday after my class," Beth began to explain as she felt her cheeks begin to burn with a growing blush. "I know some cemeteries don't allow flowers unless you buy them from-"

"Nah, not this cemetery," Daryl cut her off with a shake of his head.

He stared at the flowers for another moment and the lifted his eyes to her face. She did her best to give him a small smile though she wasn't entirely sure what he was thinking. She didn't know how this trip to see his grandparents would go and perhaps buying flowers had been inappropriate.

Even if he didn't talk to her about it, it wasn't hard to figure out that when it came to his family, Daryl had more issues than she could probably count. He had told her something – about his dad and his mom and beatings – but he had said it almost in passing, a comment he had to make in order to get to the next thing he wanted to say and Beth knew that it hadn't been the time to ask anything further about it. But it didn't take a genius to realize that Daryl's childhood had been anything but ideal.

He seemed to speak highly of his grandparents but Beth didn't know if visiting their graves would open even more wounds that he had tried so hard to forget.

"Thank you for this," he said then in a quiet voice and she knew that he was thanking her for more than just the flowers.

"You're welcome. Thank you for asking me to come with you," she said.

"'s important…" he began to say but then stopped himself. He cleared his throat a little and lowered his eyes for a moment before looking to her again. "'s important that you're there with me," he then managed to say.

And she wanted to kiss him in that moment. Just drop the flowers in her arms to the floor and throw her arms around his neck and plant a kiss on him that neither could breathe from. She wondered what he would do. She wondered if he would want to kiss her again. She couldn't be too sure. She thought things were going so well between them and that he was falling for her in the way she was falling for him.

But then something had happened that had angered him or upset him and he suddenly wanted nothing to do with her. And Beth knew she had fallen completely for him because the ache she felt in her heart afterwards almost made her want to stay curled up in bed and never go out to feel the sun warming her skin ever again. After the way her relationship with Zach had ended, she hadn't felt such pain the way she had like when Daryl was suddenly no longer in her life.

She didn't know what had happened. She still didn't. All she knew was one moment he was there and the next, he wanted absolutely nothing to do with her and Beth hated that she seemed to be able to do nothing but cry about it. She went to classes and work and taught piano lessons and went to the farm to see her family or get lunch with Maggie some days and she went on living but the whole time, her mind was never fully there. Daryl always had a part of it and she went over every single thing that had happened and tried to figure out for herself why he had just left.

She wanted to be so angry at him and when he had showed up at her door just two days earlier, she had thought she would scream and yell or at the very least, simply ignore him. But he stood there and he looked so sorry – honestly and genuinely apologetic and Beth was just so happy that he was there; that he had come back.

But she still wasn't too sure how to act around him. She didn't know how he viewed her. But she already knew she wasn't going to be the one to breach the subject. The ball was entirely in Daryl's court from now on. She was tired of always serving.

She made sure her apartment door was double locked and he followed her down the stairs and outside to his truck parked on the curb. He went to the passenger side and opened the door for her and she gave him a small smile as she climbed in, careful not to crush the flowers in her arms. Daryl then walked around to the driver's side and she saw a duffle bag on the floor, partially under the bench seat and after climbing in, Daryl put her tote bag down there as well. Beth carefully placed the flowers down on the seat between them.

"Not to give into sexism but I got blue for your grandpa and pink for your grandma," Beth said and Daryl didn't say anything, sliding the key into the ignition, but she saw his lips twitch as if he wanted to smile but caught himself before he could.

And she didn't understand why she felt disappointed that he kept himself from doing so.

Beth didn't say anything else and she turned her head towards her window, watching as Daryl drove them out of town, the familiar scenery passing by in a blur of colors. Daryl's truck didn't have a CD player and the radio wasn't the best either so he left it off and there was nothing but a heavy silence settled between them. She wondered how long the drive would be and if it would be like this between them the entire way.

She heard him exhale a soft breath and she nearly turned her head to look at him but she made sure to keep her eyes settled outside the window. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting from this trip but she knew she had hoped that he would actually apologize. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to expect though because that would require talking and Daryl didn't seem that eager to talk at all. She wondered if he even though there was anything to even apologize for.

And was there? They had been something but what, she didn't know. It wasn't as if they were dating or engaged or married. To most people, that would look as if he had no loyalty to her and was free to leave whenever he wanted. And Beth supposed that that was true. They weren't tied together and Daryl could leave whenever he wanted. She had just hoped that maybe he wouldn't _want_ to leave.

Maybe it was her fault. Maybe after Zach, she had rushed into something with someone else instead of just taking time for herself. She should have just ignored the way her stomach always clenched and her heart always thumped rapidly when she was around Daryl.

Daryl exhaled again.

"My grandparents lived in Fairmount, a lil' town in the Blue Mountain Ridge. My grandma was young. Sixteen when she met him, seventeen when they got married and eighteen when she had my mom. Anne was their only kid. Grandpa Chris died. He was a machinist and a tractor he was workin' on crushed him. My grandma thought about goin' back to Kentucky but she stayed and she and Anne kept livin' in Fairmount. And when Anne was sixteen, she met Will Dixon."

Beth turned her head from the window to look at him. Daryl didn't look at her though. He was staring right out the windshield and kept talking. She had never heard him say so much at once but she didn't do anything that might make him stop. She made sure she didn't even breathe too loud in case that would break him from whatever spell he was under at the moment that was making him tell her all of this.

"Don't know much 'bout it. Don't know if he loved her or if he even liked her. Don't know why he even married her but mom was seventeen and pregnant and Will married her. She had my older brother, Merle. And then ten years later, I came 'round. Merle was around sometimes but he was always in and out of juvie for one thing or 'nother. And my ol' man, he sometimes worked but for the most part, he just went out with friends and got drunk and hooked up with random women. My mom was always at home, cryin' and drinkin' and I don't know why but she always loved him."

Beth felt a lump in her throat as if she knew that the story was about to get much worse.

"He beat the shit out of her. Anytime he was home, he'd be beatin' her. She'd always try to get in his way when he came after me but sometimes, she couldn' and he'd beat at me, too. Grandma Liv lived about twenty miles away and I'd always run from the house afterwards and go to her. She'd give me a bath and wash my clothes and put food in my belly. But I could never stay with her and always had to go back home. Don't know why mom never left 'im. Grandma Liv would beg with her all the time but she just stayed."

He sighed heavily, his eyes still set on the road in front of them.

"Mom liked to drink. One day, she was in bed, drinkin' and smokin' and she passed out. Cigarette fell and lit the whole house on fire. Burned it and her down to nothin' but ash."

Beth felt tears sting her eyes but she did her best to blink them quickly away before any of them could fall. Daryl didn't need her to cry right now. Her fingers curled into the ends of the scarf she wore wrapped around her neck and she clutched it as he continued.

"After the funeral, I went to live with Grandma Liv. Finally. And it was the best my life had ever been. Baths and three meals every day and clean clothes and a warm safe home. I loved that woman more than anythin'. I was with her for a month and one day, I got up for school but she didn't get up. She had died in her sleep."

Beth closed her eyes. Okay, she was really going to start to cry. She could just envision little Daryl, never catching a break in his life.

"I had to go live with my ol' man after that."

 _Oh no,_ Beth whispered silently in her mind. Thankfully, Daryl provided no details. She would listen to him, of course, but she didn't know if she wanted to actually hear about it.

"State of Georgia considers you an adult when you're sixteen so when Merle came back, I was sixteen so I left with him. Never saw the ol' man again. Didn' do much for a few years 'cept follow Merle around. Merle was always gettin' into trouble and I guess it was my job to keep him out of as much of it as I could. Didn' do anythin' for years except drift around. Didn' know if I wanted to do anythin' else. After Grandma Liv dyin'… things just stopped matterin' much to me after that."

"Merle liked his booze and his pills and his needles. Jus' like our ol' man but he'd punch you in the mouth if you ever made the comparison. Merle died a few years back. Drug overdose in some shitty motel room. After Merle, I didn' have anyone else. Drifted a little bit longer then found myself in some little university town with a job and studyin' to get my GED. And then one mornin', I was gettin' a doughnut and I met the prettiest girl I'd ever seen and for the first time in years, I didn' feel so numb anymore."

Daryl finally turned his head then and looked at her and Beth still didn't say anything or do anything as she looked at him. It seemed like now that he had spoken so much, he seemed to be done with it and he stayed quiet.

But that was okay. He had said more than enough. He had said more to her than he ever had to but she was so glad that he trusted her enough to tell her everything about him. It was actually all she wanted. She just wanted to know him.

She picked the flowers up and carefully moved them to her other side as she slid across the bench seat so she was sitting right next to him. He looked at her for a moment and then slowly, his eyes moved back to the road.

"'m sorry," he then said in a soft mumble but Beth heard him perfectly.

And suddenly, him apologizing didn't seem that important to her at all.

She moved as close to him as she could and she wondered if he would stiffen but he didn't. He glanced at her before he looked back to the road and she leaned in, resting her chin on his shoulder, her nose grazing against his ear.

"I love you," she whispered to him and she thought of the times she had said that before in her life and to who and none of those other times had ever felt as right and natural as this, right here and now, with Daryl felt.

She wasn't scared of his reaction or nervous. She realized that it didn't really matter. After everything he had just told her, bravely opening his entire life to her and she knew that she was probably the only person in this world to know, Daryl needed to know he was loved by someone; that he was someone who deserved to be loved.

He was quiet, still staring out at the road, but still, Beth didn't worry. It was clear he had gone a long time without hearing that from someone in his life.

She nestled down against him, resting her head on his shoulder and hugged her arm across the front of his waist, and after another moment, Daryl's hand slid over to rest on her knee.

"I love you, too," he said quietly and Beth closed her eyes and smiled.

…

Beth had seen the Blue Mountains plenty of times before but always in passing as she and her family drove past them on the way to other vacation spots. She had never been this close before and she had certainly never been at the base of one.

Daryl turned off the main road he had been following and after following the twists and turns of a two-lane road in need of a pavement job, it opened up into the town of Fairmount – the kind of small town where if a person blinked, they missed the whole thing. Daryl drove them down the main road until they were out of the main downtown part and then took another turn. When he stopped the truck, they were in front of a white clapboard square simple southern Baptist church.

Daryl got out first and Beth gathered the flowers in her arms before following him. He shut the door behind her and then shoved his hands in his coat pockets. He didn't say anything but he began to walk past the church and Beth followed behind, also without speaking. The church's cemetery was small and spread out in a grassy field beside the church. For not being there so long, Daryl seemed to still know exactly where he was going and Beth followed him to almost the very edge of the cemetery and stopped them in front of three in-ground flat headstones. Chris Harper, Olive Harper and Anne Harper-Dixon. Beth couldn't help but read the last one and then looked at him, a little surprised. He hadn't mentioned that his mother was buried here, too.

Daryl just stood there, with his hands in his pockets, and he didn't say a word.

Beth went and knelt down on the cold grass. A mountain rose up right on the other side of the trees that surrounded the field they were in and Beth wondered if it was cold enough for it to snow while they were there. Just a couple of hours north of where they lived and it felt so much colder here.

Beth began separating the flowers. She put half of the blue peonies on Grandpa Chris' stone and then scooting over, she put half of the pink on Anne's stone. Grandma Liv was buried in the middle and Beth took all of the remaining flowers – the largest bouquet of the three – and placed them down on the woman's stone.

She remained kneeling for a moment, hands clasped in her lap and she silently said a quick prayer that all three were resting in peace. She was also sure to add that Daryl was doing so well for himself because it didn't matter if Daryl believed or not. She believed that his grandparents and mother were looking down on him, watching over him.

When she stood up again, Daryl was standing there, hands still in his pockets, his eyes looking right through her to stare at the stones.

Beth gave him a small smile though she was certain he didn't see it but when she began to walk away to give him a bit of privacy, Daryl's hand shot out and grabbed hold of hers, stopping her. He looked at her and didn't say anything but he didn't have to. She knew what he wanted and she came back to stand beside him. He exhaled a heavy breath he must have been holding and she leaned into him, resting her cheek against his bicep. He was still holding her hand and she slid her fingers through his, interlacing them together. He grasped it tightly and didn't let go.

Beth didn't know how long they stayed there, standing in front of his family's headstones, but it didn't matter because it wasn't like she had anything else to do. And even if she did, that wouldn't matter because there was nowhere else in the world she'd rather be. She'd stand right here, holding his hand, for as long as Daryl needed her to.

…

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 **I am both very excited and very nervous to write the next chapter.  
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 **Thank you very much for reading and please review!**


	22. Jelly Filled

**I think the next time I write a Daryl/Beth love scene, it should just be a PG scene in which Daryl and Beth kiss, they lower onto the bed and then the screen cuts to black.**

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…

 **Chapter Twenty-Two.** Jelly-Filled.

Daryl had thought that maybe they would stay in Fairmount for the night but after visiting his family's stones for a bit of time, they had gone to the small town's one diner for lunch and other than that, there wasn't much else to do. The drive back home was only a couple of hours so Daryl suggested they head back and Beth had nodded and smiled, obviously not really caring one way or another way what they did that day and he had a feeling she didn't care as long as they got to spend time together.

Daryl felt exhausted, to be honest. Not just from the emotions of visiting his family after going so many years of not but of telling Beth everything he had that morning on the drive up. He had never expected to tell her all of that but he knew it was really the only way. He felt sorry for the way he had acted towards her and he knew that she deserved to know him. She had told him she was falling for him and he didn't know if that was true anymore or not but either way, she deserved to know the guy she was falling for.

He hadn't known what he was expecting but he should have known that Beth wouldn't cringe away from him after he told her. Instead, she told him that she loved him and he believed her. This girl loved him despite everything that he had done and gone through and for the first time in a long time, he found himself loving someone, too.

He loved Beth. He really did.

The ride back was quiet but this was a comfortable quiet – unlike the silence that had heavily hung between them that morning.

"Can I see your cabin?" Beth asked as they were getting closer to town and Daryl wasn't surprised she knew he had bought a place. Even if Maggie hadn't helped him get the loan, it was a small town and everyone knew pretty much everyone else's business.

"Not much to see yet," he answered but Beth just smiled and she knew that he would show her. This girl had him wrapped around his damn finger and he didn't know exactly when it happened but he didn't mind that much. He actually didn't mind at all.

He had wanted to show her his new home anyway. He wanted to see if she could see how great it could be like he was able to see whenever he looked at it. And knowing Beth, she probably could.

"'s dark out here," he noted as he turned down a dirt road just outside of town that led them into the woods. It was only six o'clock in the evening but it might as well have been midnight for as black as the night was.

Beth leaned forward a little in her seat to look at the trees with their branches bare, reaching up to the ink black sky like bony fingers, and then the dark shape of the cabin loomed in front of them.

He stopped the truck in front of the steps and he hurried out, heading up to the front door as Beth got out of the truck much slower, looking up at the cabin in front of them. It was too dark so she wasn't able to see just how worn down it was. He unlocked the front door and his hand fumbled around on the wall for a moment before he was able to flip the light switch of the front porch.

He looked back to Beth and she smiled.

"I like it," was all she said.

He smirked a little. "Yeah. You and the bats," he joked a little.

"I happen to have a newfound appreciation for bats," she smiled as she climbed the three wooden steps that led up to the porch.

He smiled a little at that and watched as she looked around the porch – not that there was much to look at. Just wooden boards that stretched along the front of the house with posts and a roof, right now dead leaves scattered about. She was smiling a little though as if she could imagine something clearly in her mind.

She took a few steps and then gave a turn as if she was dancing. She then looked to Daryl and smiled at him and held out a hand for him to take. And even though he had no idea what she was doing, he stepped to her and took her hand and she giggled a little as she came to him, her front pressing to his.

"I'm imagining a porch swing and pots of flowers and a lazy dog sleeping," she smiled softly up at him, her eyes twinkling in the crappy yellow porch light.

And suddenly, Daryl could imagine all of those things, too. He didn't say any of that though. His hand just tightened around hers and he swallowed. "Come on. 'll show you the rest."

He led her into the house and turned on the light right over the door and then closed the door behind them, making sure it was locked. Beth took a few steps forward, looking at the main interior room. He walked past her, heading straight to the fireplace. He didn't know how long they would be there but it was cold in the cabin and he didn't want her to be.

As he crouched down, throwing in a few of the logs that he had chopped earlier, he could hear Beth behind him. Rick had been helping him over the past couple of days, moving furniture from his apartment over here and even though he had his apartment until the end of the month, in just a couple of days, he was almost completely moved in here.

He looked over his shoulder to see her in the kitchen. She had turned on the light above the sink and was now opening the bare cabinets.

"Are you hungry?" He asked.

"Even if I was, you don't even have crumbs for the mice," she teased him and he smirked, standing back up once the flame he lit started eating at the kindle, steadily growing larger. He watched her as she opened the refrigerator, her nose wrinkling. "We need to go grocery shopping and get a box of baking soda to put in there," she then said and he nodded in agreement, not dwelling on the fact that she had said _we_ so easily. Hopefully, he could say it easily like that, too. If not now, someday.

She turned towards him. "What's up there?" She pointed to the stairs against the wall.

"The bed," he answered and his voice sounded more gruff than usual. He did his best to clear his throat and he felt the tips of his ears burn red.

Beth didn't say anything and she looked at him for a long minute. "Come on," she then said softly and reached out, taking his hand.

He didn't argue or fight with her as he followed her and she led them up the stairs. He had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen once they were upstairs but he didn't know if he should protest. He knew he didn't want to. It wasn't like he was some expert at this and he was very much just following Beth's lead but he knew what he wanted. If this was what she absolutely wanted to happen tonight between them, Daryl would quite gladly participate. He just hoped he didn't embarrass himself or make her regret this.

Upstairs, the loft had sloped ceilings, hard wood floors like the rest of the cabin and a large circular window on the far wall. His bed was already there as was his dresser and nightstand. He had slept in the cabin for the first time the night before and just as he thought he would, he woke up to birds singing and nothing else. He couldn't believe that it had taken him so long to move out to the woods.

He stood at the top of the stairs and watched as Beth crossed the room to look out the window, as if she was making sure that no one could see in but all that was outside was the moon and the small creek and the thick woods of trees. She turned back to him and gave him a small smile. He wondered if she was nervous. He almost asked but the words clumped in his throat and he didn't say anything. He didn't take his eyes off of her.

"It's cold," she commented.

"It'll take a bit for the heat from the fire to get up here. I've got a space heater…" he began to say but stopped when he watched as Beth took the bottom of her sweater and pulled it over her head. She dropped it to the floor with a small smile.

She didn't say anything about what she was doing. After her sweater, she then pulled off the tank top she had layered beneath. She then sat down on the foot of the bed and pulled off her boots and socks and then stood up, pushing off her jeans.

Daryl didn't move the whole time. He was pretty sure he didn't blink or breathe either and all he could do was look as Beth Greene stood there beside his bed in nothing but her white bra and matching white underwear. The look of pure innocence and she was seducing him.

"I don't have any condoms," he finally was able to say and he gave his head a shake.

"I'm on the pill," she said and that confirmed it. As if her being almost naked didn't tell him, she talking about birth control definitely did. Beth wanted this.

And then as if reading his mind, she smiled a little and came to him.

"Here," she said softly and she grabbed hold of the bottom of his shirt.

She pulled it off over his head and Daryl didn't protest. He was far beyond the point of protesting any of this now and he helped her as she began unbuttoning and lowering the zipper of his jeans. He very much felt as if Beth was the one in charge and he was just along for the ride. Which was just fine with him. He had only done this a couple of times in his life and both times had been awkward and uncomfortable for him. He had only done it because he felt as if it was something he had to do and because Merle all but forced him into it.

He had hated being that close to anyone – having to touch them and have them touch him.

But tonight, with Beth, he couldn't remember the last time he wanted something as badly.

He kicked off his boots and then his jeans and her hands went to the bottom of his white undershirt. She paused though as if she knew about every scar that marred his body beneath. She looked at him with those big eyes of hers, as if silently asking for permission. Daryl took a deep breath. He could do this with no one but Beth and he told himself that.

And he was the one to pull the tee-shirt off over his head, standing there in just his boxers and socks now. He took a moment and watched Beth as she looked at him for the first time. She lifted her hands slowly and he almost shivered as she placed them on his chest – his grandma's name tattooed over his heart, another random tattoo of a reaper on his back, and scars. So many scars. He watched her face, looking for a hint of pity, but he saw none.

She lifted her eyes and looked up at him, not saying anything. She then pushed herself up on her toes and her arms slid around his neck and Daryl finally made the first move. He moved his head in and his lips captured hers.

And then they were off. They kissed and his hands slid down her back, grasping her hips, and he began pushing her gently back towards the bed. He hadn't made it from the night before and he lowered her to the tangle of sheets, Beth pulling him down on top of her. He could feel her hardened nipples poking through her bra, pressing into his chest, and she moaned softly as his tongue entered her mouth.

He didn't know how long they kissed. All he knew was his lungs were burning but for once, Beth didn't break the kiss so they could breathe. She was kissing him just as hungry and hard as he kissed her, her fingers in his hair and then sliding down his back, not once pausing over any of the lash scars she felt there.

"Daryl," she whimpered, almost impatient, shifting her legs, lifting her hips to meet his.

He had no doubt that she could feel his erection.

His fingers slid to her own back and he found the clasp of her bra, fumbling for a moment before he was able to get it free. Beth brought her arms back so he could pull it off and he didn't pay attention to where he tossed it. He was the one to break the kiss just so he could lower his mouth to her nipples. She moaned the instant he closed his lips around one and her back arched off the bed. He licked and suckled and palmed them and didn't let up and he wanted to make Beth cum this way because he could just imagine not getting Beth to cum the other way. He was relieved she just had breasts sensitive enough for this.

When she cried his name out and her nails dug into his skin before her body tensed and then began to tremble, Daryl considered this whole night a success.

For a moment, he considered taking her underwear off and tasting her between her thighs with his mouth but he had never done that before and he had no clue how to do that. He wouldn't want to embarrass himself. He figured he was about to do that anyway.

He lifted his eyes and looked to Beth. She gave him a soft smile and he found himself moving slowly just in case she still wanted to change her mind. His hands went to the waistband of her underwear and he wondered if she could feel his fingers shaking slightly but if she did, Beth would never mention it. Instead, she just lifted her hips and helped him push them down her legs. He couldn't help but take a moment to stare at her; to stare at Beth Greene naked on his bed. Her thin, pale body, her small breasts, the small patch of blonde hair between her thighs.

"Perfect," he heard himself breathe out a whisper and Beth's cheeks noticeably blushed at that and she reached her hands out, grabbing his arms and pulling him down on top of her.

He sank into another breath-stealing kiss, feeling her fingers at the waistband of his boxers, and he tried to keep his lips connected to hers as he did best to push the boxers off. After so much wiggling, Beth began to laugh and he couldn't help but smirk. He sat up just long enough to pull them off along with his socks and he reached for her the same time she did for him.

"Are you sure?" He heard himself asking, his face right above hers, both of their mouths opened as they shared hot puffs of air.

"Daryl," she laughed a little as she spread her thighs a bit wider, cradling his hips between them, and both could feel the head nudging against her folds. She bit down on her lower lip and stared up at him as he stared down at her.

"I ain't got nothin' you can catch," he felt the need to tell her.

Her face softened into a smile. "Me, neither."

He exhaled a deep breath then, preparing himself. He reached between them and took a hold of his erection and then staring into her eyes the whole time, he began pushing forward. She bit down on her lower lip again, her eyes fluttering, and Daryl almost groaned at how tight and wet she was. It was as if she was sucking him in and he couldn't stop until he was all the way inside, his hips meeting hers, sinking entirely, and Beth exhaled a breath.

"A'right?" He asked, his own breath releasing in a great exhale from having held it.

"Oh, yes," she smiled faintly up at him. "Are you alright?"

He smirked at the question. "Yeah, I'm a'right," he said and she giggled a little again.

He lowered his lips and kissed her as he brought his hips back and then thrust forward again. He moved slowly – mainly because he didn't trust himself to go fast. If he did, this was going to be over in seconds. He wanted to go at least a few minutes.

But Beth wasn't making that easy on him. She rocked beneath him, moaning and squeezing around him and lifting her hips to meet his. This damn girl was going to kill him and he didn't even know if he would care or not. He would die knowing that someone loved him. And honestly, what could he want more than that?

He watched as her hand went between their bodies and without thinking about it, his hand joined hers, their fingers bumping together.

"Show me," he grunted and she took his fingers, showing him where to rub her on that small bud above where their bodies met and as he did, her own hands fell away and she moaned louder than she had before.

Daryl picked up the speed a bit and watched her face as she moaned his name and her hands clutched his shoulders and his hair and the back of his neck. He didn't stop rubbing her and when she came for the second time, louder and greater than the first, Daryl couldn't hold back as he felt her gush around him and squeeze. He slammed into her one final time and felt himself emptying deep inside of her. And before he could stop himself, he all but collapsed on top of her. Beth didn't seem to mind. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his temple and their bodies rose and fell together as they both tried to catch their breath, their skin sticking together with sweat.

"I love you," she whispered in his ear.

Daryl buried his face in the side of her throat and squeezed his eyes shut as if he was about to start crying. And right then, he wouldn't be surprised if he actually did. This girl loved him and he loved this girl. More than anything or anyone in this world, he loved her.

"This whole time, I thought I was the one savin' you," he said into her skin.

Beth didn't say anything to that but her arms tightened around him and she held him and Daryl had a feeling she wasn't going to let him go anytime soon.

…

"Daryl," Beth mumbled the second she felt him moving away from her.

"'s still early. Go back to sleep. I'm just gonna go get us some breakfast," he said and before he could talk himself out of it, he leaned in and kissed her on the forehead, listening as Beth was already falling back to sleep without further protest.

He got himself dressed quickly, finding his clothes on the floor near the stairs, and he couldn't help but keep looking back towards the bed where Beth slept, still naked, curled up in his sheets.

She was really there. He hadn't dreamt up any of the past twenty-four hours. He had no idea what would happen now – that dreaded morning after – but whatever happened, he just hoped she'd still want to be around him.

He sighed heavily as he sat down on the edge of the bed to tug on his boots. He nearly shook his head at himself. Of course she wanted to still be around him. The girl had told him that she loved him twice and she wouldn't have said that unless she meant it. He had to just learn to believe that Beth wasn't going anywhere – at least not today.

Daryl left as quietly as he could, making sure the door was locked securely behind him. It was a cold morning and he could see his breath appear in short puffs in front of him. The fire had died sometime during the night and he had dragged the space heater out after their first time together so he knew Beth wouldn't freeze to death while he was gone but he would be sure not to be gone too long so he could get back and build up the fire again.

He got into his truck and drove into town. It was still so early in the morning, not many people were out yet and most of the storefronts were still dark and closed. Daryl drove straight for the doughnut shop and went inside where, as expected, he was the only one in there. Instead of Karen – the weekend waitress – behind the counter, it was T-Dog, who grinned at the sight of Daryl and Daryl's brow furrowed.

"What are you doin' out here?" Daryl asked, already pulling his wallet from his pocket.

"Karen called in sick and I'm just waiting for Rosita to get here. She's gonna be pissed at me. Girl parties too much," T-Dog said with an amused smile. "What can I get you this morning?" He asked and Daryl looked over the fresh-baked doughnuts.

Sundays in the doughnut shop had a smaller selection. T was only open for a couple of hours before he went to church and closed for the day. Daryl wondered why he opened at all but it wasn't any of his business and he wasn't going to complain. Without T being open this early today, he'd have to go to McDonald's for breakfast and he didn't want to exactly go back and give Beth an egg McMuffin.

"I'll take four," Daryl said and T-Dog raised an eyebrow at that but pulled out the smaller white box and flipped the lid. "One of the chocolate frosted, one glazed, one apple crumb and a strawberry frosted."

As T-Dog got the chosen doughnuts, the man started smiling to himself and Daryl tried to ignore it but the man wasn't an idiot and he and Beth were considered regulars. T knew which doughnuts they preferred and he knew strawberry frosted was Beth's favorite. And when Daryl asked for two cups of coffee, the man was outright grinning now and Daryl felt the tips of his ears turning red. He handed T the money and T handed him the box and a carrier for the two cups.

"Thanks," Daryl grunted.

"Tell Beth I said hi," T-Dog said and Daryl almost denied it but what would be the point?

He could deny it all he wanted but T-Dog wasn't an idiot and it didn't matter if T-Dog knew or not. Hell, yeah, Beth was back at his cabin, in his bed, sleeping. He would never say those words out loud but it felt pretty good just saying them in his head and Daryl left the doughnut shop with a little smile twitching at his lips.

Back at the cabin, he set the coffee down so he could unlock the door and push it open before setting the coffee and doughnuts on the counter and then going back out to the truck to get her tote bag and his duffel bag that had still be in there from yesterday.

Up the stairs in the loft, Beth was still in bed but she was awake now, her head resting on his pillow, and she smiled sleepily when she saw him.

"Hey, you," she said.

He smiled a little at her. "Hey. I brought coffee."

"My savior," she smiled and he smiled a little bigger. She sat up, keeping the sheet around her body and Daryl came to sit on the edge of the bed beside her, setting the coffee and doughnut box down on the nightstand table. "Mmmm," she said after taking her first sip. "I feel like I can sleep all day. Or at least stay in bed."

Daryl nodded because even though he was never the sort to just lie around in bed, right now, he could feel like he could do just that. "Me, too," he said and she smiled.

He looked at her – at her pale body wrapped up in his white bed sheet and at her slightly messy blonde hair and he had never seen anything prettier. This girl was really here, in his bed. He had actually been inside of this girl and she actually loved him and she probably wouldn't mind if he was to be inside of her again.

But for now, he really just wanted to kiss her and he told himself that he could because she loved him and he loved her and she had seen and felt all of his scars and she was still here.

Daryl began to lean in but Beth pursed her lips together, smiling, and she shook her head.

He just smirked and shook his own head. "I don't give a shit 'bout mornin' breath," he told her and snaked a hand to the back of her head and for once, he was bold and made the first move and leaned in, pressing his lips to hers. And Beth didn't protest for even a second before she was kissing him back.

…

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 **Thank you very much for reading and please review!**


	23. Peanut Butter Crème and Jelly

**This story will be twenty-five chapters so two more to go. I can't tell you how much I have loved writing this one and I'm excited because I still have one thing planned I can't wait to write.**

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…

 **Chapter Twenty-Three.** Peanut Butter Crème and Jelly.

"Ta-Da!" Beth exclaimed and pulled herself to her feet.

Daryl turned his head from where he was fixing one of the kitchen cabinets as it hung on its last hinge. He watched as she went to the fireplace mantel and placed the two picture frames she had bought him – now with the pictures of his grandparents inside. She situated them and then took a step back, admiring her work.

She looked to Daryl and gave him a bright smile. "You, Mr. Dixon, officially have a decorated cabin," she beamed at him and she looked so damn happy, he couldn't help but smile, too.

After work, he had gone over to her apartment, knowing she had one afternoon class that day but that she would have been home by now. And she was and when she opened her door and saw that it was him, she burst into the widest smile he had ever seen and it almost knocked him back a step because she was so damn happy to see him. He had somehow managed to ask her if she wanted to come stay the night and she had smiled and told him that she had to study for an exam she had the next day and he has said no place was quieter to study than the cabin.

He really just wanted her at the cabin with him and he hoped she would figure that out without him having to say it because he actually didn't know _how_ to say it. He just knew he wanted her near him and the image of her lying on his couch as she studied while he made little repairs around the house, it sounded like the perfect evening to him. Any night with Beth, anything they did, sounded pretty damn good to him and he was still getting used to it, he supposed. This need to be around her all of the time and have her around him but he knew, deep down, he would have no problem getting used to it.

"Looks good," he said and she smiled before going to her messenger bag left on the kitchen counter, pulling out a paperback book he recognized as the book from his truck that day. Music of the world or something like that. "You hungry?" He asked.

"I'm always hungry," she smiled at him. "We really need to take you grocery shopping."

He nodded. "Yeah. I've been thinkin' up things I need to get. Should prob'ly make a list or somethin'."

That made Beth giggle a little and she reached into her bag again and she pulled out a spiral notebook. "I got distracted in my class today," she said, opening it to a particular page and holding it out for him to take.

Daryl smirked when he saw what she had written. _Daryl's Grocery List_ was across the top and she had at least twenty items already listed. He lifted his eyes to her. "Am I allowed to add my own stuff?" He asked, teasing her.

"I suppose," she teased back.

Daryl watched as she went to his couch then and did a graceful little spin before falling back, lying herself down and stretching herself across the cushions, adjusting herself for a few minutes before she opened the book and began reading. He looked at her for a moment; at how natural this whole damn thing felt and he wondered if it was always natural between them or if it was now that they had slept together. He wasn't too sure but he didn't want to ask because maybe the answer didn't matter that much. They were here, now, and that was really the only thing he cared about – Beth being here with him.

He had been an idiot to think he had wanted her anywhere else.

He fixed the rest of the kitchen cabinets, tightening the screws on all of them and adding a little oil on the hinges so they opened easily and silently and once he was done, he took a step back and looked over his work. Maybe he could pick up some wood stain at the hardware store. Not that he gave a shit what the wood of the cabinets looked like but maybe making them a little darker might make them look like new. His new kitchen. He allowed himself to like the sounds of that.

He turned to Beth's notebook on the counter and finding that she had stuck a pen in the spirals, he pulled it out and added wood stain to the list.

Daryl turned and looked around the room, thinking of what else he could work on that wouldn't make too much noise and disturb Beth from her studying. The bathroom sink was draining a little slow. He'd go and take care of that next but first, he crossed to the fireplace and crouching down, he tossed another log onto the fire, the flames eagerly covering it. He glanced over his shoulder to look at Beth to find that she was already looking at him.

"Thought you were supposed to be studyin'," he said.

She smiled and shrugged. "If you study too much, you have a harder time retaining anything," she stated and Daryl took her word for it. "I like watching you," she then said in a softer voice with a faint pink tint to her cheeks.

Daryl felt his own stomach clench at her words.

"Yeah?" He asked, trying to keep it light.

She smiled and nodded. "You are something very nice to look at."

He almost snorted at that. He was pretty sure Beth was the first and only person to ever think he was something _nice_ to look at. He had had girls flirt with him before. In bars he went into only because of Merle, there were always girls. Too much makeup and too tight of clothes and too much perfume and hairspray. Everything about them had always been too much. Even the way they acted. Just too much. Too much touching and smiling and Daryl had always cringed and pulled himself away from them as quickly as he could but more than one of them had called him the more handsome of the two brothers before asking him if he wanted to go back to their place with him.

But when they had said things like that to him, it was just something they said so they could get laid. Daryl had never believe a word any of them had ever said to him.

Beth, though, she didn't have a fake bone in her entire body. This girl said what was on her mind and in her heart at all times. Like him, she didn't see the point of telling lies or wasting breath on a bunch of empty words. The girl always said what she was thinking and if she liked watching him, she'd make sure he knew that.

Daryl was tempted to crawl over to her from his spot still in front of the fireplace but he didn't know if he could do that without looking stupid so he stayed where he was.

"You wan' some pizza?" He asked instead.

She smiled. "The fifth food group," she answered and he smiled a little, too.

The cabin didn't have a phone – another part of its appeal to him – and he pulled out his beat-up cell phone that he barely used. He had Rhee's Pizza's number stored in his contacts and he gave it a ring. He didn't know if they would deliver all the way out here but he could go and pick it up and leave Beth here for a little bit. He still didn't have any food in the place and he was starving, too, for dinner.

"Hey, Daryl," Glenn was the one to pick up the phone and Daryl wondered if he really called that often for pizza for Glenn to have his number memorized. "Your usual?" He asked.

"Yeah," Daryl answered. "And I'm at my new place and don't know if you deliver out here-"

"We deliver anywhere in town and you're still in town. Give us about thirty minutes," Glenn said. "Is Beth with you?" He then asked.

"Uh, yeah," Dayl answered and for a brief second, he imagined Glenn having a problem with that before he remembered that there was no reason for anyone to have a problem with it and even if there was, Glenn was the sort of guy to not have a problem with anything.

"Good. Tell her I need her to use her veto on Maggie's movie this Saturday," he said. "Yours, too," he then added and Daryl couldn't help but smirk. It sounded like he was campaigning.

"Why can't you use yours?" Daryl asked.

"You're not married, man. I'm not going to do something as stupid as veto my wife's movie choice no matter how badly I _don't_ want to watch it."

"What is she choosin'?"

" _Dirty Dancing_. Trust me. Veto it. Because watching that movie with Maggie is not something you want to experience. Not yet anyway," Glenn said. "Beth will tell you. Alright. I'll have someone out there in a little bit."

"Thanks," Daryl said before ending the call and putting his phone down.

He smiled a little to himself just from replaying his short conversation with Glenn.

 _Not yet anyway_. Talking about movie nights and events that hadn't taken place yet but planning that they would, it felt good; like he was part of the family and he had never really felt that before with anyone before. Rick had opened his home up to him and the Grimes family liked him and he didn't mind spending time over there but he was never quite sure how they viewed him. He was Rick's friend, yes, but he always felt like maybe he didn't belong there – not matter how nice the family was to him. He especially felt out of place when Shane was there because he was Rick's _best_ friend and they had known one another since middle school.

But at the Greene house, he was with Beth and there was never any question of that. The family had swooped in and swept him right in and he was a part of them now. He was Beth's boyfriend and they treated him accordingly. Boyfriend. They hadn't actually had that conversation with one another. Was it even a conversation that had to be had?

Daryl came towards the couch again and paused for only a moment before he moved to join her. Beth smiled when she saw what he was doing and she eagerly scooted over to give him more space. He laid down on his side between her body and the back cushions of the couch.

"It'll be here in a lil' bit," he said and he hesitated, not entirely sure what to do with his arms but then he finally just went for it and put one over her middle and Beth snuggled closer to him in response.

She was quiet, reading, and he was quiet, watching the flames of the fire.

"Where was your Grandma from in Kentucky?" Beth asked softly after a few minutes.

"Clay County," he answered, looking down at her as she looked up at him.

"You think her side of the family is still there?"

He shrugged a shoulder. "Prob'ly. People in those parts, they tend to stick 'round for generations no matter how hard or poor it is."

Beth was quiet for a moment, clearly thinking something over, and Daryl looked at her, just waiting for her to say whatever it was.

And she did. "Would you ever go up there to see them?"

"Don't know 'em," he pointed out to her.

"That doesn't mean they're not your family," Beth said but Daryl didn't know what to say to that so he didn't say anything. "I bet they would love to meet you."

Daryl shrugged again. He had never thought of it before. There was the Sparrow family and Grandpa Chris's family, the Harpers, but he had never known any of them. When he was born, his dad made sure he knew he was a Dixon and nothing else. He never thought of having any other family besides the Dixons – and they weren't a family he would ever want. If it was between them or being on his own, he'd choose being alone. And he had.

He knew if he went up to Clay County and saw Appalachia like Grandma Liv had always talked about taking him to see, there would be some people who would still know her. The Sparrows were probably still up in those mountains. He had never thought about it before but suddenly, he realized that he had an entire family he had never even known about and leave it to Beth to point something so obvious out to him.

…

He had no idea what he was doing but he listened to Beth and let her guide him. The way her fingers gripped his hair, nails digging into his scalp. The way her hips kept lifting off the bed until he curled his hands around them to hold them down. The way she moaned and cried out and Daryl just kept moving his mouth and tongue and drowning himself in her.

He was glad he had never done this before; had never even thought of doing this before. He was glad he was able he was able to do this to Beth and learn how to please only her. He had no reference, no past moves he could draw on. He was just doing everything randomly and on instinct and hoping it worked on her and it definitely seemed to be working fine.

"Daryl!" She cried out then and she pulled on his hair and her entire body went tense.

And Daryl smiled a little to himself – proud for being able to do this to her – before he drank her down and licked her until she gently pushed his head away, far too sensitive for him to keep doing that. He lifted his head and looked up her panting body, splayed naked on his bed, and her eyes were closed, her chest heaving up and down and Daryl smiled again, pretty damn pleased with himself.

"I think you lied to me," Beth said, her breathing still uneven. "There's no way you've never done that before."

He smirked as he brought himself to lie down beside her. "Jus' wanted to make it good for you," he said and Beth opened her eyes at that, looking at him.

"Oh, you definitely did," she said.

Daryl felt the tips of his ears turn red as if embarrassed and his eyes fell away from her, listening as her breathing slowly returned to normal and he noticed goosebumps break across her skin. He moved the sheets and blankets back over her body and he slipped beneath them, too, and Beth circled her arms around him, bringing him in close to her. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close and Beth snuggled against him, closing her eyes and exhaling a contented sigh.

"You're very good to me, Daryl Dixon," she whispered to him sleepily. "I love you."

And it didn't matter to him how many times he had already said to her or didn't say it. He just knew he probably wouldn't be able to ever say it enough. Because he realized that all he really wanted in this life anymore – besides this cabin and his job – was Beth. Being good to her and loving her, he didn't need anything more than that.

"I love you, too," he murmured against her hair as he tightened his arms around her and she tried to snuggle in even closer to him.

He would never understand how someone could have looked at this girl and even had the idea of slapping her let alone the ability of actually doing it. He'd sooner cut off his hand then ever raise one to her. Beth was the most perfect thing in this world that he had ever seen and he'd rather die than ever cause her pain of any kind. He could do it. He could be a good and kind man. He may have been Will Dixon's son but he wasn't Will Dixon.

As Beth drifted off to sleep with her head on his chest, Daryl laid there and could hear the distant distinct hoot of a barn owl somewhere outside. They tended to stick to farmlands or fields but sometimes, they would swoop in through the trees. Daryl listed to his mama talk about birds from her calendar and he had always liked the owl. They were solitary and liked to stick to themselves and Daryl had always thought that he understood them.

 _As adults, Barn Owls are solitary animals until they pair with a mate. They mate for life and become very emotionally attached to their partner. Barn Owls can often be seen cuddling with their partner and babies in their nest. They will mate to show affection to one another, although they are not actually breeding._

Beth shifted against him and sighed in her sleep and Daryl tightened his arms around her.

Sounded about right.

…

"Yes, Shawn, I got them," Beth sighed into the phone. "Yes, Shawn, dark chocolate."

Daryl smirked as she put the bag of milk chocolate covered pretzels back on the shelf as she grabbed the dark chocolate bag.

"Yes, Shawn. I'm handing them to Daryl right now and he will not crush them." She turned to Daryl and handed him the bag with a roll of her eyes. "They're on sale. 2 for 5. Do you want two?" She asked and then paused to hear his answer. "No, Shawn. None of us will think you're a pig." She rolled her eyes again and grabbed a second bag. "I'm hanging up now, Shawn," she warned him and then with that, she pulled the phone away and ended the call, sliding the phone back into her messenger bag. "I am such a good sister. Apparently, the serving size on the dark chocolate pretzels is five and the milk chocolate ones only have a serving size of three. Shawn doesn't want all of this going to his hips."

Daryl smirked again. "He eats half of one of those pizza by himself."

"Please, Daryl. Do not try to speak logically in regards to my brother," she said and with that, she took his hand and began pulling him towards the front of the grocery store.

The grocery store was actually a little crowded for a Saturday evening and he and Beth got in a line with a few other people in front of them. Beth was humming a song to herself while reading over the nutrition facts on the back of the pretzel bag and Daryl began to frown to himself when he began to get the distinct feeling that someone was watching him.

He began looking around but everyone seemed to be too busy with themselves and their grocery shopping and who the hell would be looking at him anyway?

"I am starving," Beth said and stepped to him, sliding her arms around his waist. "Maggie's going to blame Shawn if we all veto her movie tonight and it will lead to some big fight."

"You don't got to veto it if you don't want," Daryl said, still looking around with his sharp eyes, that feeling on the back of his neck not going away.

"Oh, no. You _have_ to veto when it comes to Maggie and _Dirty Dancing_ ," Beth said.

And then Daryl spotted him. _Him_. Daryl had only seen him one time. That one morning as he gripped Beth's arm and made her wince and Daryl had punched him in the eye. Even if he hadn't been treating Beth the way he had that morning, Daryl knew he probably would have hated the guy just on sight alone. The shaggy hair and confident smirk and easy stride. Kid had a silver spoon probably shoved in his mouth for his entire life and was raised to believe that the world owed him something. Daryl hated all people like that. Not just because their lives had been good and easy but because they acted like they deserved it.

Daryl frowned as Beth kept hugging him, resting her head against his chest, and it took a second for Daryl to realize that he wasn't actually staring at him. Rather, he was staring at Beth.

Daryl's frown grew deeper and he wrapped an arm around Beth's shoulders as if protecting her. Beth had a restraining order against him but Daryl knew that guys were generally pretty stupid – especially guys like Zach – and that might not matter to him. He stood in a checkout line a few down from theirs, a basket of groceries in his hands, and his eyes were trained on Beth. It was as if he didn't even see Daryl. And Beth had no idea she was being stared down by her ex-boyfriend.

"I think we should make next weekend your turn," Beth commented. "What movie do you think you would pick?"

"Don' know," Daryl grunted, only half-listening. All of his concentration right now was being focused on Zach. He had no idea what this kid would do or try to do.

He focused intently on Zach's face, trying to discern his expression, expecting to see anger or even hate. But Zach wasn't looking like that at all. Instead, he was looking at Beth with a look Daryl could easily recognize. Longing.

Beth laughed then and pulled her head back, tilting it up to Daryl. He finally moved his eyes and looked down to her face. She was smiling happily, her eyes twinkling, and she seemed unaware of the crowded store around them.

"Just don't make the same mistake Glenn made on his first movie night. He chose Maggie's favorite movie because he thought it would gain favor. All it did was tick the rest of us off."

Daryl felt his lips twitch a little. "Wha' is with your sister and this movie?"

"She has the entire thing memorized. The _entire_ thing. Dialogue, which she says every word, _and_ she sings along with every single song. She sometimes will attempt to do the dances and will force Glenn into doing them with her. Someone can get seriously hurt. She even brings a watermelon for a prop."

Daryl had actually never seen _Dirty Dancing_ but he guessed that having a watermelon for this movie wasn't necessarily a good thing to the rest of the family's opinion on the matter.

"What's your favorite movie?" He asked because he realized that he actually didn't know.

And her smile softened at that; as if she was so happy he actually wanted to know. " _The Wizard of Oz_ ," she said and Daryl nodded because that actually wasn't surprising at all.

He smiled a little and her smile grew before she stood on her toes and kissed his chin before pulling away and putting the bags of pretzels on the conveyor belt. Daryl's eyes went back to Zach, who was still looking at Beth, but now, he seemed to have noticed him, too. And Daryl recognized the look now on Zach's face, too. He had looked at enough people in his life with that same expression. Jealously.

Daryl stared right back at him. He still had no idea if Zach would do anything.

Their eyes locked and they stood, staring at each other; staring each other down. He hated doing this. Beth wasn't a _thing_ or some prize that either of them could win. She wasn't someone's property. She hadn't belonged to Zach and even though they were sleeping together, that didn't make her his now, either. Beth was her own person and she could make up her own mind and make her own decisions and just because she was a woman, that didn't make her weaker than either of them.

Maybe that was why Daryl hated just the sight of Zach. Maybe he was more like Will Dixon than Daryl ever had been. They had the most fucked up views of the world.

Zach looked away first but Daryl kept staring at him until Beth gently poked him in the stomach, earning his attention immediately.

"Do you have any change?" She asked and he nodded, digging into his coat pocket. She smiled as he handed her a couple of nickels and a few pennies.

She had no idea that Zach was in that store with them and Daryl was relieved for that because for a moment, he was almost afraid that she would see him and all of these old feelings for him would resurface. He was quick to realize how asinine that was though. Beth was with him and she seemed quite happy to be with him and he wasn't going to lose her.

Their line was moving a little slower so Zach was checked out first and Daryl watched as he hurried out of the store, never looking towards them again.

Beth laughed a little, earning his attention again. She shook her head slightly. "I'm just thinking what Maggie will do once we all veto against her."

"Kind of feel bad," Daryl said, now much more relaxed with Zach gone. "She's the one who helped me get my place."

Beth instantly shook her head at that. "No. _You_ got you your place. Maggie just hit a few buttons on a calculator," she said and god, if he didn't love her already, he would have just fallen for her completely. The way this girl believed in him, he didn't know if he would ever learn how to get used to it.

He was eager for the opportunity, though. Might take him the rest of his life but as long as Beth was willing to stick around that long, he'd be more than willing to learn.

…

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 **Thank you very much for reading and please review!**


	24. Maple Crème

**One more chapter to go and even though I love this story and am going to miss writing it so much, I cannot wait for the last chapter. I have been waiting to write this particular chapter since the very beginning of this story. In the meantime, please enjoy this one!**

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 **Chapter Twenty-Four.** Maple Crème.

He heard the footsteps nearing, crunching in the dusting of snow that covered the frozen ground, but he remained crouching down, staring down at his family's names.

He had been coming here nearly every weekend. It was just a couple of hours and he left early in the morning, stayed for a little bit and then drove back home. It was a habit he was getting into and it was one he wanted to keep. He felt better coming back here and he wished he hadn't stayed away for so long.

Fairmount had gotten a little bit of snow the night before and Daryl brushed it away from the faceplates so he could see their names. Beth usually came with him and last weekend, she had brought red poinsettia flowers. She wasn't with him today but she had given him fresh flowers to place down. He took his time doing so now, laying them down carefully and adjusting them in a way that he thought Beth would have. She hadn't been able to come with him today. It was nearing the end of the semester and she had to stay behind and study and work on her music composition due for one of her finals.

He didn't think it was a surprise to any of them when Beth let her lease run out on her own apartment and she moved in with Daryl. They hadn't had some big discussion about it. He hadn't asked her to move in with him. He basically just said that it was pointless of her to keep paying her rent when she spent all of her time here anyway. And in Daryl Dixon language – a language Beth had become fluent in – he was asking and she had accepted.

It had hardly taken any time at all. Her apartment had come furnished so they hadn't had to bring any furniture with her and Daryl already had pretty much everything that was needed. They got Maggie, Glenn and Shawn to help and they got her clothes and other personal items boxed and loaded into his pickup truck and the only thing they had to call about was moving Beth's old Kimball piano. Daryl had wondered how in the hell they had even gotten it into the apartment in the first place because getting it back out had been a hell of an ordeal, getting it down the stairs and loaded into the moving truck all safely.

It was now sitting in the cabin's living room, placed against the wall beside the fireplace and Daryl loved when he came home from work and he could hear piano music filtering out from inside and it was the only sound he could hear.

Having Beth live with him felt as natural as if it was always supposed to be that way. He had bought the cabin so he could keep himself away from everyone but it was no surprise to him that Beth was the only one he didn't mind sharing his space with.

The footsteps were closer now and Daryl pushed himself up and glanced over his shoulder. A young man with blonde hair and a neatly trimmed beard was approaching him – wearing all black except for the white in his collar and the red winter coat he wore, unzipped. He smiled when he saw that Daryl had spotted him.

"Good morning," he greeted in a friendly tone.

"Mornin'," Daryl grunted back.

"I'm Father Nick, the Reverend at the church here," he introduced himself with an extended hand and Daryl hesitated for just a second before reaching out and shaking it in return. "I've noticed you here every weekend for a couple of months now."

Daryl didn't mean to but he felt his back stiffen. "That a problem?"

Father Nick kept smiling. "Not at all. Just haven't seen you coming here at all before."

"Yeah…" Daryl lowered his eyes to his grandma's stone. "Jus' stayed away for a while."

Father Nick nodded as if he already knew. "It can be hard for most but I think being able to come and know where they have their final resting place, it can help. Their souls may have gone onto a better place but a part of them is always near to visit."

Daryl didn't say anything to that.

A moment of silence passed.

"I just wanted to introduce myself," Father Nick continued. "And if you ever need to speak with someone about anything, I'm always in the church."

Daryl nodded and still didn't say anything.

"Olive Harper. Your mother?" He then asked, his eye catching the name on the stone.

"Grandma," Daryl grunted.

"We have bricks in the pavement in front of the church steps that members of the church can purchase and place names in memory of those who passed away. Your grandma's name is on one of those bricks."

Daryl lifted his head and stared at the young Reverend, who smiled at him. He turned to walk back towards the church without inviting Daryl to follow him. Daryl followed on his own accord and Father Nick led him to the front of the church. On one particular brick, amongst others all inscribed with other names, faded red in black letters, there was an inscription – _In Loving Memory of Chris and Liv_. Daryl stared at it. Who had put his grandparents on a brick? Because he sure as hell hadn't.

"Who did that?" Daryl asked, lifting his eyes to the other man.

"Irma Horvath, a member of our congregation. Purchased it years before I came here but I know that Irma was your grandma's closest friend."

Daryl just blinked at him. Irma Horvath. He tried to remember the woman and maybe he did. Buried somewhere deep in his mind, he pictured a woman with dark hair and brown eyes and crooked teeth. He could remember the woman and Grandma Liv always laughing and teasing one another about their teeth as they drank cups of tea. He could remember the woman always telling Grandma Liv that she had the sweetest grandson in the county.

"I'm sure she would love it if you went to visit her. I'll get you her address," Father Nick said and before Daryl could say anything, the man disappeared inside of the church.

Daryl hadn't expected to go. He didn't know if he wanted to go and speak with a woman about his Grandma. It was getting easier to talk with her – to Beth though and only Beth. He didn't know if he was ready to speak about her with another person but after Father Nick gave him the address, Daryl found himself driving through Fairmount and pulling to a stop in front of a tiny white house with red window shutters, a yellow front door and an RV parked in the driveway.

He took a moment, taking a few deep breaths, wondering why he felt so damn nervous. He then stepped out of the truck and headed up the front path and onto the creaky front steps. Despite the cold, the front door was open and he knocked a fist on the screen door.

"Coming!" A man's voice answered and a moment later, a man wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt with a white beard and beady black eyes came down the hall, peering at Daryl curiously. "Help you?" He asked. He had glasses perched on his nose and he looked at Daryl closely through them.

"'m lookin' for Irma Horvath. Father Nick gave me her address," Daryl answered. He wondered if he should say something else because that still didn't really explain why he was standing on this front porch. "She knew my grandma," he added.

"Who was your grandma?" The older man asked.

"Olive Harper."

Instantly, the man's eyes lit up. "Daryl?"

Daryl just blinked at him.

"Irma!" The man called back into the house over his shoulder. "Daryl Dixon's here!" The man eagerly unlatched the screen door and pushed it open. "Get in here. It's good to see you, son." He clapped a hand on Daryl's shoulder and Daryl just kept staring at him because he wasn't entirely sure what was going on.

And then a woman in a cotton dress and house slippers came shuffling down the hall at a quickened speed. Her hair was gray but in her face, Daryl saw familiar brown eyes. The woman stopped at the sight of him and stared at him, studying him. He wasn't a little boy anymore and Daryl didn't know if he looked anything anymore like he did when he was that age. There were no pictures of him from his childhood to compare.

Irma then stepped closer to him and he saw tears in her eyes and when she smiled, he saw those crooked teeth. Irma put her hands on his shoulders and for a little woman, she was able to pull on Daryl and Daryl found himself unable to fight it off as she pulled him down into a hug, clasping him tightly and her body shuddering as she began to cry.

"It is so good to see you again, Daryl," she said into his ear and Daryl almost closed his eyes because her breath smelled like mint tea – just like Grandma Liv's breath used to smell like.

He had a feeling he wasn't going to be home in just a couple of hours.

…

When he finally did pull back in front of the cabin, it was dark and the door opened within seconds, Beth rushing out and down the steps. Before he could even fully get out of the truck, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"You need to take your cell phone with you next time," she said.

"Sorry," he said as he hugged her in return. That definitely wasn't a habit he had – taking a cell phone with him because why did he ever need to check in with anyone before? He still wasn't used to having someone who worried about him. "Got held up in Fairmount for a lil' bit," he said as she pulled back to look at him.

"Everything alright?" She asked, her brow furrowed with worry.

And he felt himself smiling. "Yeah. Got a lot to tell you." He reached back into the truck and pulled out two boxes. "You get your writin' done?" He asked as they walked back into the cabin and he closed the door behind them. He had lit a fire before he left that morning and he had showed Beth how to tend to it and hours later, it was still big and bright and the room felt warm and cozy.

"It's not my best. I'll still be trying to figure it out tomorrow," she said, going into the kitchen where there was a pot of something bubbling on the stove. "I made chili. Are you hungry? I wasn't too sure what time you would be home."

"Starvin'," he said as he hung his coat up on the hook on the wall and then took off his boots. "Sorry I missed movie night," he then said. "Wasn' expectin' to be gone that long."

"You don't have to apologize. It was just pizza as always and my daddy's pick. _Downfall_. A two and a half hour movie with German subtitles. It's amazing but it's always his pick so you'll get the chance to see it again. I was worried but now that you're back, I'm just curious." Beth scooped some of the chili into two bowls and then pulled out a pack of shredded cheddar cheese from the refrigerator, dropping a greedy serving over hers.

"I was able to meet two people who knew my grandparents," Daryl said as he helped himself to the packet of cheese.

"Really?" Beth gasped and he looked at her to see a smile spreading across her lips.

"Was with 'em for a few hours today. It was good to talk to 'em," he said.

"I bet," she said and her smile was growing even more.

Daryl had stacked the two boxes on the counter and he opened the lid of the one closest to him. He took a bite of chili and then paused to chew and swallow. "When my grandma died, the ol' man wouldn' lemme take any of her things with me. I never knew what happened to any of her things. Turned out Irma and her husband, Dale, had everythin' and were just waitin' for me to come back to it."

Beth's eyes widened when he pulled out two photo albums full to the brim with not only pictures but she saw some newspaper clipping hanging out of some pages.

"I used to sit on her floor and look through these. Always wondered what happened to 'em," Daryl said as he turned to the first page of the first photo album. A black and white picture of a young Grandma Liv and Grandpa Chris before they were married, sitting on a blanket on some grass, at some picnic.

"Come on," Beth said and taking the second photo album, she went to the couch and Daryl followed after her with the first album. He sat down beside her and Beth tucked her legs under herself as she ate a spoon of her chili. "Now, tell me everything," she smiled at him.

Daryl found himself smiling at her as she looked at him with her warm smile and kind eyes and he had already told her so much but now, it was time to tell her some of the good things.

He opened the album back across his lap and Beth leaned in close to him and he started telling stories of Grandma Liv and Grandpa Chris and his mama when she was young and he hadn't thought of these stories in so long and he hadn't thought he even remembered them anymore but now, he found the words falling easily from his mouth.

And when he ran out of those stories, he told her stories about Merle and him – when they were kids and older, too. Only the good stories and the funny stories and by the end of it all, he was exhausted but he was smiling. He was happy.

And Beth leaned in and kissed him on the cheek and snuggled close to him in front of the fire still crackling before them. She hummed to herself as she began turning through the photo albums for herself and paused on a picture Grandma Liv had taken of a young Daryl, his hair – so much lighter then – sticking up and a toothy grin showing off his missing front tooth.

"You are so adorable," she said in a teasing voice though he knew she absolutely meant it.

Daryl snorted at that.

"You are," she bumped him playfully with her elbow. "I bet our kids will be adorable just like their daddy," she then said and Daryl blinked at her, wondering if she had just said that.

And he knew that she had because he saw her cheeks explode in a blush as if embarrassed.

Daryl didn't say anything for a few passing minutes. He knew that just a few months ago, he would have been angry or said something cruel. No way in hell would he ever want kids. After his entire shitty life, why would he want to bring a kid into this world and pass his shitty blood onto them? Why would he want to risk of the cycle of Will Dixon repeating? The Dixon line would die with him and the world would be a better place because of it.

But that was before Beth. And now, Daryl felt like his life could be separated into two parts. BB and AB. Before Beth and After Beth and even he had changed AB. He wasn't the same guy – always angry and numb towards everything around him. Meeting Beth had forced him into cracking open his mind and remembering everything and finally facing it. If it wasn't for her, he never would have thought of those things again. He wouldn't be able to.

He may have punched her ex-boyfriend in the face but Daryl knew he was the one who owed his life to her.

"You mean annoyin' lil' cusses?" He smirked a little and Beth looked at him for a beat before she smiled and a soft laugh escaped passed her lips.

"The most annoying _perfect_ cusses this state has ever seen," she said and he grinned at that.

He leaned in and his hand slipped to the back of her head and he pulled her in for a kiss. And Beth seemed to be quite happy to sink against him and he held her tight and close.

…

"This will just take a second," Beth said from deep in her closet in the farmhouse.

"Take your time," Daryl said as he looked around her bedroom. After looking over the boy band posters on the walls and the paperback books on her shelves and the porcelain horses on her dresser, he sat down on the edge of her bed.

"I could have sworn…" Beth trailed off as she stepped out again. "I'm gonna have to ask my daddy. It was the most ridiculous papier-mâché heart piñata but I loved it and my mama bought it for me for Valentine's Day. I always kept it in here. We need it for the cabin."

"We'll find it," Daryl promised her. "You wanna take that in the meantime?" He asked and Beth followed his eyes, laughing a little as she saw the tiny piano in the corner.

She crouched down in front of it and played a quick scale before standing up again and coming to sit down on the bed beside him. "My first piano. My daddy bought it from a carpenter at the county fair and I banged away on the thing all day and night. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the rest of my life but I know that as long as I get to play the piano, I'll be as happy as a person can be."

Daryl looked at her and didn't say anything. She stared at the tiny piano for another moment before turning to look at him.

"Do you think I made a mistake? About dropping out of the education program?" She asked in a quiet voice. "What am I going to do with just a music degree?"

Daryl shrugged. "You'll figure it out. This life's too short for you to be doin' somethin' you hate," he said. "We'll figure it out," he then told her and his words made her smile. "Maybe you could open up that lil' music store you told me about."

Beth smiled and shook her head. "Music stores are a dying breed, Daryl. It'd be closed in a month," she said and let out a little sigh.

He shrugged again. "Thing like that might be good in a town with a university. And people would be stupid if they didn' come to support you."

Beth smiled at him and leaned into him, slipping her arm through his. "Have I told you that you are very good to me, Daryl Dixon?"

His lips twitched in a smile but he didn't say anything. Instead, he looked down to her hand – pale and with slim long fingers that were perfect for playing piano. He could tell her that she could do any damn thing she sent her mind to but Beth already knew that's what Daryl thought of her.

He then settled his eyes on the bracelets she always worse on her left wrist. In all of this time together, he had never seen her without those bracelets but he had a pretty good idea what was underneath; what she was hiding. He wasn't an idiot and he knew all about hiding scars.

Beth followed his eyes and she sighed softly. "It wasn't a good time for me…" she said softly.

Without a word, Daryl covered her hand and gave it a squeeze. "You don't gotta tell me until you're ready, Beth," he cut her off, able to hear the reluctance in her voice as she spoke.

She looked at him with surprise. "I don't?" She asked and she seemed genuinely surprised by that. "What if I'm never ready?" She then wondered.

Once more, he shrugged. "You don't ever gotta tell me. Took me damn near thirty years to talk 'bout my scars. You talk when you're ready."

Beth stared at him and didn't say anything but he could see tears shimmering in her eyes.

"I ain't goin' anywhere so if you're ever ready to talk 'bout it, I'll be here," he whispered.

Beth exhaled a shaky breath and she then sat up a little and she put her arms around his neck, hugging him tight, and his arms circled around her.

"I'm not going anywhere either," she whispered to him.

And even though that was something Daryl already knew, he exhaled a shaky breath as if he had been holding it and could now breathe again now that she had said such a thing and he tightened his arms around her. It was probably too tight and he told himself as much but he couldn't seem to get himself to let her go.

…

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 **Thank you very much for reading and please review!**


	25. Blueberry Crumb

**A short epilogue of sorts that I was so excited to write. I know this story didn't have many of the other characters in it that are usually in other Bethyl stories but this one was really all about Daryl and Daryl/Beth. I also know this story ends with a lot open and I will probably write a follow-up one-shot further down the road. I can't thank you enough for reading and supporting me as I wrote this one.**

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…

 **Chapter Twenty-Five.** Blueberry Crumb.

 _Few birds are happier in the company of man than the house sparrow, and for much of the year, it is rare to find them far from human habitations._

Daryl wasn't sure how long they had been sitting in the truck outside of the convenience store but he knew it had already been a few minutes. He wasn't too sure why he couldn't seem to get himself to go inside after driving all of this way but a part of him was nervous for some reason no matter how many times he told himself that there was no reason to be.

From beside him, Beth sat quietly, giving him the time she knew he needed.

They had left early that morning, stopping and getting doughnuts and coffee from T-Dog before beginning their long drive. He knew they didn't have to get it done all in one day but a part of him just wanted to get there and the sooner the better. It had taken him nearly his entire life to get here and he had waited long enough to make this trip.

Clay County, Kentucky was poor in a way that most people weren't used to in this country. Most of the people living here still didn't have running water or electricity and the county was always on lists of the most obese and poorest of any county of any state. But people stayed because they may have been poor but they were proud and this was their home. Daryl didn't doubt that most of them were still here.

"I need to go to the bathroom," Beth said, finally breaking the silence. "I'm going to go inside but you take your time."

Daryl nodded and didn't say anything and she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before pushing open her door and sliding out of the truck. He watched her through the windshield as she climbed the store's step and she smiled as she pet the dog sitting on the porch, the dog's tongue hanging out and his tail wagging happily from the attention.

Once she disappeared inside, Daryl exhaled a deep breath. He could do this. He was a Harper and a Sparrow and a Dixon and all of that blood mixed together made him damn near invincible. He wasn't afraid of anything. Not anymore.

With one more deep breath, he got out of the truck and headed towards the store. The dog was now wagging his tail at the sight of Daryl and Daryl gave him a quick rub behind his floppy ear before heading inside. The store was small with a few shelves of food and a row of coolers against the wall that sold everything from milk and juice to beer. Daryl knew this was really the only place that sold groceries around here for miles. Behind the counter, there was a large man with a round face to match his round stomach, and he was chewing on tobacco, a tin can next to his hand that he could spit it into.

"Afternoon," he tipped his head towards him.

Daryl nodded his head towards him in return and then his eyes scanned the space for Beth.

"Your girl's in the bathroom," the man read his mind.

The front door opened again and two girls in their young teens entered, giggling to one another about something. Without looking at either of them, they headed towards one of the deep freezes where there were ice cream bars and sandwiches kept.

Daryl headed towards the counter. "Was hopin' you could help me."

"Yeah," the man smiled, showing off his imperfect tobacco-stained teeth. "Figured you and that girl of yours was lost. Don't get tourists up here too much unless they're lost."

"Nah, I know where I am," Daryl shook his head. "I just don't know where to go from here."

The man tilted his head slightly to the side and looked at Daryl curiously.

"'m lookin' for my family. My grandma was from Clay County and I don't know any of 'em…" Daryl trailed off and he turned his head, seeing that Beth had come out of the bathroom and was heading back his way.

The sun coming in through the windows caught the small diamond engagement ring on her finger and cast a rainbow onto the floor. She smiled at him as she walked closer and Daryl reminded himself that he could do this.

He looked back to the man. "I'm Olive Sparrow's grandson," he then said.

The man took a second and then a smile stretched broadly across his face.

"Aunt Liv?" A voice from behind him asked and Daryl turned his head to see the two girls, now looking at him in return. The one who had spoken was the older of the two – probably around thirteen – skinny, all knees and elbows, with familiar strawberry blonde hair.

Daryl just blinked at her.

"I'm Annie Berry." She took a step forward then and his breath caught in his throat at learning her name. "I'm named after my grandma. Grandma Anne. My grandma and Aunt Liv were sisters. And this is my cousin, Hattie Sparrow. Her grandpa was Grandpa Travis and he was Grandma and Aunt Liv's brother but he died a long time ago in one of the cave-ins. A lot of 'em were coal miners but you prob'ly already know that. But they have another brother who's still livin'. Uncle Jeremiah. He's the youngest and I knew he was jus' a baby when Aunt Liv left home so he prob'ly don' know that much 'bout her."

Daryl just kept staring at her, his head feeling like it was spinning a little bit. All of these names and connections and he had two cousins. Just like that.

Even though he knew it wasn't true, all of these years, he had gone through life thinking he had no family anymore. Grandma Liv had talked about the family in Kentucky all of the time. He knew she and her sister, Anne – her favorite sister – wrote to one another frequently and he knew he had uncles and aunts and cousins. But with his last name and his ol' man telling him that he had no one, and Merle later telling him often that no one would ever care about him except for his older brother, Daryl had forced himself to forget about all of them.

"'m Daryl," he finally spoke, finding his voice again.

"Oh my god!" Annie exclaimed, startling him. "Daryl Dixon!" She then leaped forward and threw her arms around him in a hug. And Daryl stood there, having no idea what to do. From the corner of his eye, he could see Beth smiling. "You came home!" Annie then beamed, pulling back, looking up at him.

Daryl looked down at her. The Sparrows must have had some strong genes because Annie looked just like that picture he had of Grandma Liv when she was a young girl. The hair and freckles and the eyes. Even if Annie hadn't said anything, Daryl figured he would have guessed that they were related somehow.

"This is Beth, my fiancée," Daryl said, waving a hand towards Beth, and she stepped forward with her beaming smile.

"Hi," Beth greeted. "It's so nice to meet you."

"You two need to come home with me and meet Grandma Anne. She'll wanna meet you," Annie said. "Right, Hattie?" She looked back to her cousin before back to Daryl and Beth. "Hattie don' talk much," she then informed them in a low voice but she didn't say why.

"Your grandma's still alive?" Daryl couldn't help but sound a little surprised.

"Yep. Older than Methuselah but still sharp as a whip. She'll wanna meet you," Annie said again and he heard Beth laugh softly at the girl's description of her grandma. "She has pictures that Aunt Liv sent her of you. You know Aunt Liv and my grandma were super close. She has a wall of pictures hangin' of all the family. You're hangin' there."

Daryl felt his head starting to spin again. They knew about him. They all knew about him. This whole time, for his entire life, he had a family up here. And now, he was finally here.

And as if Beth could sense it, she slipped her hand into his and gave it a gentle squeeze.

It was beautiful up here. The Appalachian Mountains surrounded them with thick trees and small pockets of homes but for the most part, it was all so undeveloped, Daryl thought that maybe they had gone into a different world or a completely different time in history.

Annie and Hattie rode in the pickup truck with them, both girls eating the ice cream sandwiches that Beth had treated them to, and Daryl followed Annie's directions. When he stopped them in front of a ramshackle brown house with a sloping front porch and blueberry bushes in the front yard, he knew exactly where they were. His Grandma had described it enough times. The Sparrow original home.

There was a dog tied to a tree in the front yard and he barked as they all got out of the truck. A baby in a diaper was sitting in the yard – more dust and dirt than grass – playing with a small collection of plastic blocks, smacking them together and laughing with delight. There was a woman, heavily pregnant, hanging wet clothes on a laundry line to dry. And on the front porch, an old small woman with tanned wrinkled skin and white hair, was sitting in a chair, singing a song as she cleaned a basket of green beans in her lap.

Daryl felt his heart stop as he heard her words filtering towards them.

" _He sent his servant to the town,_

 _To the place where she was dwelling._

 _Saying, You must come to my master dear,_

 _If your name be Barbara Allen."_

Beth's hand found his again and this time, he was the one to squeeze it.

"Grandma! Grandma!" Annie went running towards the front porch with Hattie on her heels but the woman at the line stopped them.

"Anne Berry," the woman scolded. "You better not be eatin' ice cream and spoilin' your appetite for supper or I'll whip your butt."

As Annie whined and defended herself to the woman that must have been her mom, the old woman on the porch stopped singing and her eyes settled on Daryl, He squeezed Beth's hand, suddenly feeling a clenching in his stomach as if he was scared though he knew he wasn't. He had no reason to be. This was his family and Beth was with him. His new family was about to meet his old one and with Beth's hand in his, he could do this. Without Beth, he never would have been able to do this; never would have even _thought_ of doing this.

The woman slowly got to her feet then, her eyes never leaving his face, and she didn't say anything or beckon him to come to her but Daryl found his feet taking him there anyway. Beth's hand never left his as he went to the porch, stopping himself on the ground in front of the bottom step and the old woman – Aunt Anne – stood there, staring at him with tears falling down her cheeks.

She reached out and patted his cheek gently. "Welcome home, Daryl. 'bout time you got your ass up here."

And Daryl exhaled a breath that sounded a little like laughter. He looked to Beth and she was smiling at him, tears brimming in her own eyes. His eyes returned to Aunt Anne.

"Yeah, took me a while," he said. "But I'm here."

…

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 **The End.  
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 **Thank you for reading and please review one more time!**


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